


Everything I Wanted

by ShatteredRhapsody



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety Attacks, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Found Family, Gen, No beta we die like illiterates, Past Allison Argent/Scott McCall, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Season 2 Alternate Timeline, Self-Indulgent Fix It, So many characters deserved better, The Hale Pack Deserves Nice Things
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:55:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24339982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShatteredRhapsody/pseuds/ShatteredRhapsody
Summary: Deaton may not have wanted to inform the fracturing Hale Pack of what was coming, but Marin Morrell was not about to let her current home go to Hell in a hand-basket. Just because she couldn't be directly involved didn't mean outside help was out of the picture. Featuring a Season 2 AU where Stiles and his adopted sister join the Teen Wolf crew and teach them the meaning of being a Pack.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Original Female Character(s), Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 5
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Faepire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faepire/gifts).



> Just writing for fun after binge watching Teen Wolf and felt that specific characters should have gotten help/deserved happier endings.

The alarm went off at 6:30AM.

Stiles rolled over and buried his head under his pillow. The body curled around him twitched and groaned.

“Turn it off.”

“It’s the first day of school, Aley, and Dad doesn’t want us to be late,” he grumbled and reached out for his nightstand for the alarm clock and switched off the alarm. 

“Technically,” she groused after pulling him back in for some morning snuggles, “we’re starting two months before the end of the school year.” She nuzzled his neck, just under his ear and sighed. 

“Ugh! You’re like a furnace!” He whined and sat up with her still wrapped around him like an octopus. “You’re the one that wanted to go on a morning run in the first place!”

She gave him a jaw-cracking yawn as a reply and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She pushed back wavy tawny hair and extracted herself from his person. She climbed out of bed and leisurely stretched her limbs; she bent over to touch her toes and grinned at the sound of disgust from her packmate.

“Can’t you put on some clothes when you sleep with me? If Dad didn’t understand pack bonding, this would be so awkward.” Stiles said, face scrunched up and eyes averted.

His adoptive sister was almost a half foot shorter than him, with long copper hair, hazel eyes, and lean with enough muscle to punt him through his own window via werewolf strength. She was also wearing his favorite Wolverine shirt and a pair of hot pink panties. He really wished he hadn’t known that detail, but it was hard to miss when she lifted the shirt over her head to dig into the dresser next to his. Fortunately, her back was to him but that was the part he felt bad about seeing.

Long, gauging, pink scars criss-crossed from her lower back all the way up to her shoulders. It still hurt to look at them even though it’s what had saved his life three years ago when--

“Stop thinking so hard and get dressed. If you want to make the lacrosse tryouts, you gotta keep up your stamina.” Alessia pulled on a sports bra and her running shorts. Her waist length hair went up into a bun and she was digging in the dresser drawer for some socks.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Stiles sighed and did as he was told. “You’re sure there’s a current Pack here? Dad says the Hale Pack got wiped out in a fire seven years ago.”

“The previous--” she shoved a hoodie over his head and grabbed a light jacket from their shared closet “--Hale Pack was wiped out. The son of the last Alpha came back a year ago and built up a new one according to the Emissary.”

They headed downstairs to the kitchen and both drank glasses of water before putting on their running shoes and headed out the door.

“You’re really going to trust the Emissary? Despite knowing what’s coming?” Stiles jogged several paces behind Alessia, keeping his breathing controlled so he could talk. He knew she could hear him and the run was mostly for his benefit anyway.

“She can’t tell them what’s coming because it goes against her calling, but we can once we figure out the members of the new Hale Pack. And from what she says, they’re fracturing because they’re all a bunch of reckless puppies.”

“I thought--picking up the pace? Really, Aley?” 

“School starts at 8AM and we need to hit the showers, eat, and be on the way by 7:30. If you want _any_ of the hot water, then keep up!” She tossed over her shoulder and redirected them back towards the house.

“Oh, _hell no!_ Aley!”

He went from a brisk jog to a full sprint. He knew he’d never catch up to her, which was her entire point of making him run after her. He was practically dragging himself in through the front door on wobbly legs; he’d done a cooldown walk around the house before wheezing himself into the house.

“Get in the shower, Stiles.” Was all he heard before a gatorade bottle hit him in the chest.

“Yes, Mistress!” He said sarcastically and rolled his eyes.

  
  


It was a short drive to Beacon Hills High School and Stiles’ jeep happily rumbled along the drive. Alessia sat in the passenger seat and hit the dial on her cell phone.

“Hey Pops!”

“Hey kiddo. You and Stiles on the way to school?”

“Yep,” she said, popping the _p._ “We’ll do our best not to embarrass you Sheriff.”

“Try not to start any fights and make sure Stiles talks to the Coach about getting onto the lacrosse team _even_ if it’s as a reserve team member. Three of the kids on that team have drastically upped their game in the past six months, so start there. You kids know what I say about these things: once is an incident, two is a coincidence and--”

“Three is a pattern! We _know_ Pops! I’m meeting with the guidance counselor after first period. I’ll update you on the op during lunch.”

“Bye Dad!” Stiles shouted from the driver seat.

“Yeah, yeah.” Noah Stilinski replied grudgingly, but Alessia could feel his smile through the call. “Say hi to Ms. Morrell for me.”

“Will do. Bye!” Alessia hung up the call and turned to Stiles. “You remember the signs on how to tell who’s a werewolf?”

“It’ll be harder to tell in a classroom setting, but once I see them practice? Piece of cake since they won’t be able to resist showing off a little.” Stiles said and turned into the school parking lot. “Here we are,” he said with a little trepidation.

“Hey,” she said after he found a spot and parked the jeep. “You’ll be fine, little brother.” She ran a hand through his short hair and smiled when he leaned into her touch and exhaled.

“Thanks, Aley.”

They got out of the jeep and grabbed their backpacks. They were early so there weren't too many students loitering around the front of the building. Alessia did a quick sniff of the air and her brows raised in mock surprise.

“Oh, there’s definitely some supernaturals here and they’re not all wolves either. Marin was right about that.” She pulled her backpack higher up on her shoulders and nudged him towards the doors. “Come on. Admin office should be open around now so let’s get our schedules and a map of the school.”

As they pulled open the front doors, the revving of an engine caught their attention. A black camaro pulled up and the rear passengers doors opened. Two teenagers, a blonde caucasion girl and a tall African-American boy gracefully exited. The driver’s side window rolled down and Alessia let a low whistle.

“Hello _tasty,”_ she purred, eyes roaming from the stubble of the chiseled jaw, bite-me muscled arms, and commanding visage. She focused her hearing on them and her hazel eyes lit up with delight.

_“You two try to behave yourselves. Keep your eyes out for Lydia and Jackson and don’t forget we have shifted training after school.”_

_“You got it, boss.” The boy said with a nod and the girl waved good-bye._

“Aley...you’re drooling. Come on, I’d like to not get lost on our first day?” He pulled the mesmerized Were into the building. “Hear something good?”

She turned and grinned at him, a hint of her fangs peeking in her smile. “I’m going to _love_ independent study.” 

  
  


Alessia absentmindedly listened to the English teacher go over the day’s lesson. She had received his syllabus and was pretending to read it over. She was on the independent study track, but having her attend specific classes was just a nudge from the school board in case she wanted to fully attend public school. She was a handful of tests away from attaining her GED, but Sheriff Stilinski suggested she go to confirm the teenage members of the Hale Pack. She gave him an estimated two months to figure out who that was and in one day she had the faces of two of them. It wouldn’t be hard to get their names after class since she was scheduled for an appointment with Ms. Morell; the guidance counselor was their main contact that pushed the transfer to Beacon Hills for the three of them.

_“What happened to the old Sheriff?” Stiles had asked when his Dad explained the plan._

_“He was...indisposed,” Alessia had told him with a wicked grin._

_“Did you arrange a hit on the Sheriff just for a transfer?!”_

_“No, he was getting on in years and wanted to retire. Aley, stop messing with your brother!”_

“...your book report on the literary analysis on _Jane Eyre_ is for your final grade. If you would like your drafts to be proofread before you start your final draft, my office hours are after school from 3-5pm.”

Oh thank God. Class was over and she could get away from all the perfume and body sprays wafting off of the students in the room.

“Miss Cailles? A moment before you leave class, please.”

Fuck.

“Sure, Ms. Ramsey.” She answered and took care in putting away her notebook, syllabus and binder into her backpack. Double checking that she had everything, she shouldered her bag and followed the other students towards the teacher’s desk. 

“Unfortunately, I don’t have any extra copies of the book to give you and you have a month less than the other students to complete your report. You can check the school or town library if they have a copy you can borrow. I’d like to see your progress on a viable draft as soon as you finish reading the book.”

Alessia liked this teacher already.

“Thanks Ms. Ramsey! I’ll look into that after school. Hey, um, I have an appointment with the guidance counselor. Do you know where her office is?”

  
  


Alessia roamed the halls leading to Ms. Morell’s office with her hall pass. The English teacher figured she might get lost, so a hall pass would prevent any trouble if she ran into another teacher or hall monitor. Her mind was on who she suspected was the Alpha of the Hale Pack and wondered at their similarities:

  * Little to no family
  * Surviving member of murdered packs
  * Trying to start over



But that’s where the similarities ended for the most part. From the information given to her and the remaining Stilinski’s, Derek Hale didn’t know much about how to run a Pack, whereas she did. That and he had a batshit crazy and psychotic uncle that no one seemed to be able to keep track of. 

Definitely something to keep an eye on for later.

She knocked on the door and heard a soft “Come in.”

She opened the door and softly shut it behind her.

“Alessia,” Marin Morrell stood from her desk and walked over to the young Alpha to embrace her in a warm hug. “How are you settling in?”

Alessia trembled in the hug and squeezed the other woman before letting out a slow exhale.

“It’s different. Didn’t do much public school before and the different scents are a little difficult, but exposure is...it’s good.” She let go and took a seat in the guest chair. “I’ve picked out three of the werewolves from the Hale Pack and I think I saw Derek Hale.”

“Well you work fast,” Marin took her seat behind her desk and opened the bottom drawer to pull out a file. “You got their scents down yet?”

Alessia slouched in the chair and chuckled. “I’m an In-Between, not a miracle worker. Black Camaro pulled up to drop off two students after we got to school. I’m assuming those are his Betas, but they don’t look like much.”

“No. To you, they wouldn’t. These are my notes on the other Weres and Stiles should have a few shared classes with them. Isaac Lahey is the most recent addition to the Hale Pack and Scott McCall is at the bottom of the totem pole since he was bitten by Peter Hale when he was still the Alpha.” She passed the photos to the teen.

“These kids are young, Marin. And they don’t look like much outside of the physical benefits from the bite. Cute though.” 

“Fun fact for you, but McCall is in a relationship with Allison Argent.”

Alessia’s eyes locked onto Marin’s.

“That’s ballsy considering you said the Argents here aren’t as accepting as the ones I knew. And with Gerard being active here on top of that.” Alessia said. She tipped her head back and stared at the ceiling. “Any place her dad likes to go where he’d be alone? I have a message for him from Davina.”

“That’s playing with fire, Aley.” Marin gave her a stern look, but still took out a notepad and pen. “You can find him in the warehouse district at 2pm. I left him a tip a week ago that someone had answers about the death of his cousin.” She glanced up at the clock on the wall before opening another drawer and withdrawing a small bottle with green liquid inside. “This is for you. I found a new formula for your scars to help them with fading.” She ripped the page off the notepad and handed both items to the girl in front of her. 

“Thanks, Marin. I need to stop at the school library before I leave.” Alessia took both items and put them in her backpack. “Your brother is still leaving the Pack clueless about...you know?”

“My brother is a moron for expecting them to get their act together by then. From what I’ve seen, you have until the end of summer to get them ready for what’s to come. I’d rather not see another massacre occur.”

“I’ll do my best. Pops says hi by the way.”

Marin met the other girl’s sad smile with one of her own.

“He’s a good man and tell him if he ever wants to talk about Claudia, I’m here for him.”

  
  


It was just her luck that the school library did not have a copy of Jane Eyre for her to borrow, but the school librarian was nice enough to give her directions to the town library. Fortunately, she had the backup key to Stiles’ jeep and sent him a text saying she’d be borrowing it and that she’d pick him up after school. As of right then, it was just shy of noon so she’d swing by the Sheriff’s office to update him.

She pulled into the town library parking lot and saw a black camaro out of the corner of her eye. Couldn’t be too many of those in this town, could there? She’d have to ask Pops to see if he could find out.

Walking into the library, she went to the help desk and got the location for the book she needed. She took a slow stroll around the library, curious if the scrumptious owner of the camaro she saw at school was there. If she could catch a whiff of his scent then he wouldn’t be too difficult to track once she had it down. She had just turned the corner of the Mythology section and walked into a wall of muscle.

_Jackpot!_

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I wasn’t paying attention!” She apologized and took a good look at the man before her. Oh, he _was_ yummy alright. Too bad his bite-worthy arms were covered in a leather jacket, but that chiseled jaw and stubble was hard to forget.

“It’s fine,” he told her and went back to the book he had open.

_Oh, the stoic type. Might be a tough nut to crack, but I can work with this._

Thanks to the differences in their height, she could get a few words from the open book in his hands such as _creatures_ and _South American folklore._ She mentally ran the list in her head from the Creek Bestiary and was pretty sure she knew which shapeshifter he was looking for. 

Kanimas weren’t exactly _rare_ , but the conditions for a person to even come close to becoming one was slim. Definitely a personal records issue she’d have to tap both Marin and the Sheriff for info on. 

Stepping to his side, she eyed a book that was at chest level with him. 

“Excuse me, but can I…?” She pointed to the book in question and gave him a smile when he grunted his acknowledgement and got it for her. “Thanks!”

  
  


Derek Hale was many things: stubborn, driven, harsh, but he wasn’t stupid. He wasn’t completely unaware that women found him attractive, but his family name tended to have most of them avoiding his gaze. Beacon Hills was a small town where everyone knew everyone’s business down to what they had for breakfast that morning.

While his Pack was trying to figure out ways to get Gerard’s bestiary, he decided to be pragmatic and see what the local library had to offer. For some reason, their mythology section on the supernatural was oddly extensive for such a small town. 

The girl that bumped into him startled him from his thoughts and he didn’t think much of her after she gave him an apology and asked for his help in getting a book. He didn’t think he’d seen her before, but it wasn’t like he knew everyone in town either. She was some odd inches shorter than him with hazel eyes and wavy copper colored hair. 

There weren’t that many gingers in town…

“Sorry, but are you related to Lydia Martin?” He interrupted her skimming of a book that was similar to his own, but hers was more about religion.

“What?” she asked, mid-page turn.

“You just look like you’d be a relative of hers. It’s a small town thing,” he said less confidently.

“Uh,” she dog-eared the page, closed the book and loosely hugged it to her chest. “I don’t think so? I just moved here with my brother and dad.” She sniffed, the action wrinkling her nose and she blinked up at him. “Sorry, I’m a little allergic to the dust in here. I’m Alessia Cailles by the way.”

“Derek Hale,” he told her back. He looked for any sign that she recognized his name or its significance, but all he got was a sunny smile in return.

“Nice to meet you,” she said cheerfully. “Thanks for getting the book for--oh crap, what time is it?” She dug out her cell from her back pocket and frowned. “Looks like we’ll have to chat another time, Derek. I’m running late for lunch with the Sheriff.” She put the book back and gave him a small wave before leaving the aisle.

“You forgot your--” he tried to remind her about the book she was interested in, but she was already gone. His paranoid mind jumped to an odd conclusion and he almost waived it away, but how many people would go looking for mythological creatures from South America while there was a string of unexplained murders in the area?

He set down his own book on a nearby shelf and pulled out the one she was looking at. Out of curiosity, he flipped to the page that she had marked and his gaze hardened. What were the odds that she would find the tale of a priest using a creature for personal revenge?

He’d have to ask the Pack to ask around about her. She looked a little older than them, but she definitely was high school age.


	2. Chapter 2

_ Cedar and lemon. _

_ It wasn’t going to be a difficult scent to commit to memory,  _ she had thought to herself on the drive to the police station. She went over her mental checklist of things she had to discuss with her Pops.

  1. Speak with Allison’s father
  2. Lydia Martin
  3. Any additional information on the Hales
  4. Isaac Lahey



Davina Creek née Argent was going to be a tough topic to handle, but it was their only in with a possibly sympathetic Argent family member. She was the black sheep of the Argent family having left the main family to become a Protector rather than a Hunter. Her husband was the younger brother of Abigail Creek, Alpha of the Trinity Pack, and was a mentor to the human Pack members like the Stilinski family.

Those memories still stung, but Alessia knew she’d be able to get through them with her Pops there. Davina’s lessons were what kept the remaining survivors alive long enough for them to come here to Beacon Hills. 

After parking the jeep at the police station, she turned off the engine and closed her eyes. To this day she could still hear the roars and smell the gunpowder. Phantom hands grabbed at her arms and wide, terrified eyes looked to her for guidance once she was sure they were left for dead.

She inhaled through her nose and exhaled shakily. Now was not the time for a panic attack; there were too many things to get done and she could freak out at home later like a normal person. 

She headed into the police station and made sure to give everyone a friendly smile. She recognized Deputy Haigh and gave him a friendly wave.

“The Sheriff in?” she asked him after he gave her a nod of acknowledgment. He gestured her to the office around the corner and she let herself in.

She breathed in the scent of lilac and desert sand and took a seat in front of her adoptive father, who was scribbling something down on some forms on his desk. 

“I’ll be right with y--Aley! I was expecting a call from you, not a personal visit.” He set down his pen. “What do you got for me?”

She ran down the list of the things she saw and was told so far that would be safe to discuss in public.

“Uh-huh,” he looked over the note that Marin gave her and stood to grab his jacket. “So lunch in the warehouse district then? We can pick up something on the way, but you’re driving since this Chris Argent doesn’t know who he is expecting.”

“I can drive the cruiser?” She asked with a waggle of her eyebrows and got a smack to the back of her head.

“Not on your life, kiddo. Deputy,” he called out from the doorway of his office. “I’m going out for lunch with my daughter. Hold the fort until I get back?”

Deputy Haigh lifted a hand in a ‘go on, git’ gesture before going back to his report.

“So this Chris,” Noah Stilinski started once Alessia started driving, “is the Chris that Davina used to talk about? As in Gerard Argent’s  _ son _ , Chris?”

She shrugged.

“Are there any other Chris Argent’s in Beacon Hills?”

Noah groaned and rubbed at his face with his hands.

“Now I see why you wanted me to go with you. You’d probably get shot going by yourself and there’s enough unexplained murders going on as it is. I don’t need another heart attack on top of the crap you already pull on your own.” 

She could feel his glare boring holes into the side of her head, making her grip the steering wheel just a bit tighter. “You’re acting like I didn’t come back alive from the last trip. I’m here, aren’t I?”

“I’m going to pretend that my daughter did  _ not _ go gallivanting off into the night a year ago and came back looking like she lost a fight with a combine tractor.” He said in his no-nonsense policeman tone.

“Only old people use the word ‘gallivanting’, Pops. Get with the times,” she said with a roll of her eyes, but took one hand off the wheel to hold his hand. “I slowed them down at least.”

He squeezed her hand in his.

A year ago she helped another Pack forcefully reject the Alpha Pack’s recruiter and cut their numbers down by one. It took a lot of effort, silver bullets, and lessons from the Pack butcher she’d rather forget. It also left a lot of paperwork for her dad and helped with pushing his transfer to Beacon Hills.

She put the jeep in park and hopped out, eyes searching for the warehouse where Chris Argent was supposedly waiting for them. She took a couple of deep breaths and told herself to relax. She was 99.9% sure the Hunter wouldn’t kill her while her dad was with her, but she was still nervous. They  _ needed _ this truce to happen sooner rather than later.

Noah Stilinski looped his arm with his daughter’s and walked with her to a warehouse labeled No. 4 painted on its side. They entered through the side door maintaining their walking pace until they saw a lone figure sitting on a stack of pallets. 

“Chris Argent?” Noah called out.

The man stood and dusted off his pants.

“Sheriff? What are you doing out in these parts?” Chris had his brows furrowed in confusion as they got closer to him.

“Oh, you know. Familiarizing myself with the town, having clandestine meetings with the local Hunters, just the usual Sheriff things.” He gave Alessia a friendly nudge forward. “My daughter has some things to talk to you about.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking a--”

“Davina said you were a smart man. Please don’t ruin my opinion of her by acting stupid, Mr. Argent.” Alessia said once she was within ten feet of him. 

“...you’re my contact. Why this secrecy? You could have met me at my house.” 

“Your father doesn’t like my kind. In fact, he practically gets off on killing us,” She cut straight to the point and let her eyes glow for him. “Which is why you know Davina left the main family because of her sympathy for people that just wanted to live their lives.”

Chris hesitated in reaching for his firearm hidden at the small of his back. Instinct told him to take her down, Sheriff presence be damned, but he loved his cousin and still mourned her death.

“You know how she died,” he stated evenly. “And why she came back in an urn instead of leaving us a body to bury.”

“She married into the Creek Pack and was both a friend and mentor to me. She taught the humans tracking and self-defense, but none of us were prepared for what came for us that night three years ago.” Alessia started off, her tone dimming with sadness. “What do you know of Alpha Packs?”

Chris’ hands tightened into fists and his jaw clenched. Who in the supernatural community hadn’t heard of the Creek Pack Massacre? If that’s what attacked them, they never stood a chance even with the help of Hunters.

“Augmented Alphas that form their own Pack,” he said slowly. “We’ve heard rumors of one, but no one has confirmed it yet.”

“Oh, they’re real alright. Most Packs don’t survive their form of recruitment,” she said bitterly.

“So how did you survive but Davina didn’t?” It was unfair of him to ask as his cousin was human and weapons could only do so much against a devastating force.

“She’s why they did,” Noah chose to step in and join the conversation. “My son and daughter were left for dead and Davina’s lessons kept them alive. Mr. Argent...my wife died side-by-side with your cousin; they were protecting children that couldn’t defend themselves.”

Chris let out a short, painful laugh. “That sounds like her alright. Davina could never stand for watching others beat down the little guy and she loved kids. Thanks...for giving me some closure, but I get the feeling this  _ clandestine meeting _ as you phrased it wasn’t for just that.”

“Unfortunately, no.” Alessia fidgeted and took a deep breath. “The same Alpha Pack that took out my Pack is on the move. I helped slow them down up in Redding a year ago, but my contacts say they’re going to try again and eventually, they’re going to move down south.”

“The Hale Pack,” Chris grimaced. “They’re going after more Alphas and we conveniently have one here in Beacon Hills. How much time do we have?” He saw their hesitation and held up his hands in a sign of peace. “I can’t speak for the rest of my family in terms of their willingness to cooperate, but I’ll help where I can. This town doesn’t need to be torn up like...like what happened in Trinity.”

Alessia sniffled and nodded. “Thank you. ETA is towards the end of summer. August at the earliest, September at the latest.”

Noah’s cell phone beeped and he took it out from his pocket.

“Lunch break is over, folks. Mr. Argent, I’ll give you my number if you’d like to stay in contact. Aley’s gotta get back to school and I have to get back to work.”

  
  


Stiles breezed through his classes with ease. Since Alessia inherited money from the Creek Pack, they’d had an abundance of tutors and stuck to their old homeschool routine up until the move to Beacon Hills. He stuck to taking notes and answering the teacher’s questions to the best of his ability up until his Economics class. His focus was on the teacher, Coach Finstock, since he was the one he needed to talk to about getting onto the lacrosse team.

Since it was his last class of the day, he stayed behind to talk to the Coach.

“Hey, uh, Coach?” He waited patiently for the man to finish clearing the blackboard.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Stilinski?”

“I know it’s pretty late into the season, but do you have space on the lacrosse team? My dad wanted me to get into some type of physical activity after school.” 

“Your dad is...oh, the Sheriff?” Mr. Finstock straightened his back and his eyes lit up at the prospect of a new player and what it would mean for his own reputation.

“Yes, sir.”

“We could always use someone on the reserve team...why don’t you come out and watch us practice after school? Have you done any lacrosse training before?”

“Just some basic drills like low flips and high flips to practice my hand-eye coordination. I go for a jog every morning to maintain my stamina, but I’m a quick learner.” He really didn’t mind learning the game; it seemed pretty straight forward. And he had to be on top of his coordination game because Aley didn’t make tracking her movements easy.

“I’ll pair you up with McCall. He’s on academic probation from playing in the games, but he’ll be there and can go over the basics with you. I’ll see you out in the field in a half hour, alright?”

“Thanks Coach!”

Practicing the basics with Scott wasn’t half bad. He showed Stiles to relax his grip on the stick while they stood off to the side of the team practice. Coach Finstock told them to practice throwing and catching where every five minutes or so, they’d take a step farther away from each other.

“You sure you’re a beginner?” Scott asked him once he got the basics of holding and using the stick down.

“I didn’t go to public school so all the practice I could do was at home with my sister. I swear she nailed down the basics faster than I ever could.” He lied easily.

Once they found out that Lacrosse was the sport of choice for the Hale Pack, Aley put hours of research and a couple hundred dollars into lessons, gear, the works. His hands flexed inside the borrowed practice gloves from the blisters during his first few tries.

“Don’t let Coach hear you say that, he’ll probably try to get her on the team.” Scott joked with a laugh and took a step back, waited for Stiles to do the same, and continued throwing. “Make sure the head is always facing towards what you’re catching and keep the stick verical. A lot of beginners make the mistake of catching it horizontally.”

“Thanks for the tip!” Stiles called back, adjusting his left hand at the neck for the catch, then sliding it back down for a throw. “Coach told me you were on academic probation, but if you need help, my sister is pretty smart. She’s a senior doing independent study, so if you need a tutor she has a lot of free time to help out.”

“Independent study sounds like a lot of hard work. I don’t even think the top of our sophomore class is even that close, and Lydia Martin is as smart as they get.” Scott paused for a moment, “Let me run the idea by my mom about the tutor thing.”

“Yeah, no problem!” 

After about fifteen minutes of throwing/catching practice, Scott pulled out one of the practice nets.

“Usually I play goalie, but how about you give it a try?” 

“Sure!”

While the main team went through their scrimmages and practice plays, Coach Finstock kept a careful eye on the new kid. He really was a fast learner and showed some promise; he’d easily have a spot on the reserve team if he kept going at this rate. McCall was pretty decent went in came to scoring throws, but Stiles was hanging in there and caught seven out of the ten balls before they went into the net. 

Not bad at all.

“Lahey! Switch out with McCall! Scott, start the Dodge Drills with the team!”

Isaac nodded to the coach and jogged over to Stiles. After introducing themselves, Isaac explained the offensive dodge drills that the team was working on. He took his time explaining each type, showed Stiles how to do it and had him run through them at a slower rate. 

By the end of practice, Stiles sat on the bench with his head between his knees taking deep, even breaths. His lungs were burning from the exertion, but it was a tolerable burn and he happily took the bottled water that Isaac got for him.

“Th-Thanks, man,” he panted. He took small sips until he got his breathing regulated. “Wow, that’s a workout.” He dug through his backpack and sighed. “I knew I forgot something. I’ll just have to shower when I get home.”

“..les! Stiles!” 

“Hey dude, that chick is calling you.” Scott nudged Stiles and they both looked over to where Alessia was jogging over to them with a sports bag slung over her shoulder. 

“Damn, she’s hot.” Isaac whistled.

Alessia had changed into basketball shorts and a long sleeved Under Armour shirt before driving back to school to pick up her brother. While she was home, she found his sports bag that he was supposed to have brought with him that morning and threw it in the jeep. She had arrived towards the end of the defensive dodge drills and decided to head out to the field while the team did their cool down.

“Hey, doofus. You forgot your bag at home,” she tossed it as his feet and ignored the lustful stares in her direction. “Ask the coach if you can shower here because I am not driving us home while you reek like that.”

“Thanks, Aley. Hey Scott, Isaac! This is my sister Alessia,” he introduced them quickly before he got up and walked over to the coach.

“Hey,” Scott waved and noticed how fit she was. Stiles had mentioned that he practiced at home with his sister, so he briefly wondered how good she was at the sport.

“Your brother is pretty good for a beginner,” Isaac commented while she idly played with one of the practice sticks. “You know how to handle that thing?” He joked and grinned when she sent him a playful smirk.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Hey,” Stiles jogged back to them and grabbed his sports bag, “Coach says I can use the showers. I’ll be back in about five to ten minutes. You okay to hang out here?”

“Yeah, I’m fine if your new friends don’t mind waiting with me?” She gave them her biggest puppy eyes and internally giggled at how easily both Scott and Isaac caved.

“Yeah, no problem.”

“Sure!”

Stiles walked off to the direction of the locker rooms and Aley twirled the stick in her hands. She went through the motions of catching and throwing, her fingers light on the shaft and she heard Isaac unconsciously gulp beside her.

They chatted about the season and hopes for the Championship game, all the while she memorized their scents since it was pretty pungent after their practice. Isaac was water on asphalt and Scott was cinnamon with a hint of pumpkin. 

“You did good work with the newbie, McCall!” Coach Finstock yelled from midfield. “Get your grades up and we’ll see about swapping you in as Midfield!”   


“What?! He spends practice holding the new kid’s hand and he gets moved up a position?” Jackson flipped his helmet up and glared at the Coach.

“Ease up, Whittemore! Lacrosse is about core teamwork and if I say Scott can handle Middie, then he can! Walk it off and hit the showers!”

“This is bullshit!” Jackson violently flicked his stick without thinking and realized too late that the ball was still in the netting.

Alessia heard the whistle of the ball heading straight towards their direction and easily caught it. “Hey, watch it!” She yelled at them and threw the ball back at human strength so it hit Jackson center mass. She ignored the shocked stares while she sat down on the bench and picked at the netting at the head of the stick.

“Sweetheart, you ever play lacrosse?!” Coach Finstock yelled and his players dragged him towards the locker room grumbling about their coach being sued for sexual harassment.

Isaac and Scott shared a look. They had barely heard that ball coming towards them and neither could react fast enough to catch it, but this girl caught it and sent it back like it was second nature. 

“So you really can handle it,” Isaac sat next to her while Scott sat on her other side. “Stiles said he would practice with you before he transferred. You take lessons?”

She shrugged.

“If it was offered at community centers, but mostly watching videos online on the basics for beginners. There’s not much to do when you’re homeschooled and have a decent sized backyard, so we’d go through sports phases pretty quickly.” 

“Stiles said that you’re really smart and that you’re doing independent study. Why not just ride out the rest of your senior year,” Scott asked and at her pointed look, he apologized. “Sorry if I’m being nosy.”

“Being the new kid so late in the year can be a pain. I just need the one English class and then I can apply for my GED exams,” she explained.

“Talented in sports  _ and  _ book smart? Are you single?” Isaac blurted out and flushed red when she giggled at his flustered expression. “I mean...wow, that did not come out right. Sorry.”

“Nice one, Isaac.” Scott said sarcastically and rolled his eyes. “Anyway, Aley...was it? Stiles said that maybe you could tutor me if you have the time? I have to ask my mom about it first, but if you could help me get my grades up, then I can help Stiles practice lacrosse more.”

“Me too!” Isaac got excited and put on his best smile. “Could you help me too? I don’t want to be put on an academic probation--no offense, Scott--and I could help out your brother too!”

_ Bunch of eager beavers and I haven’t even said yes yet! But tutoring would probably look good on a resume. It’s like community service in a way, _ she thought to herself and pulled out her cell phone from her back pocket.

“Talk it over with your parents first, but I’ll give you my number. I’ll have to go over my calendar to see what days would work out best. Text me or give me a call if your parents are okay with you coming over for tutoring and tell them not to worry about safety or whatever. You’ll be at the Sheriff’s house.” She finished and held up her phone so they could add their numbers to her contact list.

“The...Sheriff?” Isaac asked after entering his contact info. 

“Yeah, Sheriff Stilinski? All three of us transferred here together so he took the job as Sheriff since your last one was a hop, skip, and a jump away from a retirement home. I’ll run it by him when I see him next.”

Both teens briefly wondered if there was a possibility of getting shot by the Sheriff for just being in the same vicinity as his daughter, but Scott’s mind was primarily on Allison, while Isaac wondered if Derek would mind.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I really wasn't expecting anyone to read this, but thanks so much for the kudos and subs! I super appreciate you guys!

“You smell minty,” Stiles commented from the living room floor. He sat between Alessia’s legs while she sat on the couch, her hands massaging his neck and shoulders from the day’s activities. 

“New potion from Marin for the scars,” she said. She heard the hitch in his breath at the mention of them, but ignored it and dug her thumb into a stubborn knot under his shoulder blade. “So Scott and Isaac are for sure werewolves. I have some suspicions about that Jackson kid that lost his temper, but he could just be a douchebag.”

“Probably the latter. He mean mugged me when I left the locker room. Ack! _Oh that’s good_ ,” he groaned and leaned back into her touch.

“You should stop slouching so much. Better posture goes into less tension in your shoulders.” She chided him gently before patting him on the back. “You should be good for now. If you’re still sore by tomorrow, take a hot bath with some Epsom salts to relax your muscles.” 

“How did your talk with the Argent go?” He asked while stretching his legs to get the feeling back into them from sitting down for so long. 

“He can help us, but not directly, so about as much as we could hope for right now. He’s got Pops’ number if he wants to reach out to us.” She got up from the couch to head into the kitchen to start dinner. 

“So...tutoring? That going to be your new thing?” He got up to help her by preheating the oven while she pulled out the lasagna from the freezer. 

“I don’t see why not. You’re smart enough to help the both of them, but it gives me an excuse to memorize their scents. And,” she pulled out a baking pan, stripped off the plastic from the lasagna and placed it on the pan. “At least we won’t have to worry about them scheduling on the full moon since we’ll all be unavailable.”

“So what would you rank the two that we met?”

“Isaac is a Beta, but borderline Omega. And Scott is pretty much the same. I don’t feel like they’ve gotten any guidance from their Alpha,” she said and sighed heavily. “I met their Alpha at the library today and dropped some obvious hints at what they’re looking for.”

“The guy with the car from this morning? He looks like a jerk,” he said. Stiles may have been human, but he wasn’t blind after having spent most of his childhood around five Alphas that had an ego problem. 

“Kind of a caveman, that one. Socializing doesn’t look like it’s his strong suit and if that’s the case, no wonder his Pack is so dysfunctional. I think he’s the type that thinks that just being Alpha is enough to hold a Pack together.” She shook her head at the ridiculousness.

“So he literally has no idea what he’s doing with them? Oh, that’s great. He’ll be easy picking for the Alpha Pack when they come sniffing around,” Stiles grumbled. “Where is that guy even living if his old house burned down?”

“That...is a really good question and we don’t know this town well enough to make an educated guess. I’ll have to stop by the town library again and see if I can pull up anything from their records.” 

They popped the lasagna into the oven and took a seat at the kitchen table. Pulling her backpack from the floor, Alessia dug around for a notebook and a pen. Placing them both on the table, she outlined what information they had so far.

“There’s at least two more Betas that we don’t have the names of, but I’ll see if Marin can shed some light on those two. They’re probably more recent additions if the Alpha personally dropped them off at school.” She sighed and leaned back in her chair. “There’s so many puppies and inflated egos here, it makes you wonder how there aren’t more dead people.”

“So your Kanima theory,” Stiles said and took the pen from her to write that into the corner of the page. “How solid are you on that?”

“Seventy-five to eighty percent. I haven’t dug the Bestiary out of storage yet to check, but why else would the Alpha be looking through South American folklore on top of the paralysis and claw marks?” She pulled out the copies from the case files she took from the police station. 

“Does Dad know you have those?” He asked, face twisting in disgust at the gruesome pictures of the victims. “No defensive wounds…you might be onto something with the paralysis.” 

No one would just stand there and let themselves be murdered.

“But why would the Alpha be at the library? Don’t most Packs have their own Bestiary?” Stiles asked before pausing to share a look with his sister. “Unless....he doesn’t have one to pull references from.”

“Probably not,” she said and pulled out another copy of a case file. “After the fire, it looks like he and his sister took off. I doubt they had time to grab anything or they didn’t know where their Pack Vault was. That’s typically something that’s only shared among the Alphas and older Betas.”

“Does this make me an honorary Beta since I know where the Creek Vault is?” Stiles joked and ducked the swipe at his head.

“Shut up, brat.” 

  
  
  


Alessia spent the next couple of weeks in and out of the library pouring over maps of the town. She took pictures with her phone camera and made notes. There were a hell of a lot of abandoned buildings that an Alpha could take refuge in. The abandoned mall and railway depot stuck out to her just because of the convenience of it, but she was leaning more towards the latter. She would have to check it out some time.

She put the library books back and picked up a copy of the book she needed for school. While the library was nice, the different scents in the air was a little distracting. The maps showed that there was a lake just out of town by the Preserve and a picnic sounded like a good idea. Especially with the weather being so nice and it would be a great way to sort her thoughts. 

Plan decided, she gathered up her things into her backpack and headed out the door.

And bumped into a familiar wall of muscle.

_ Damn it. _

“Hello, Derek.” She greeted him with her best smile and fought back the urge to swoon when his scent washed over her. 

_ Ooh, that’s some potent stuff right there. _

“Aley, right? Heading out for lunch?” Derek walked alongside her to the parking lot.

She had piqued his interest from their first meeting and his curiosity only grew more paranoid after talking with Scott and Isaac. There was more to her than just a simple transfer student with above average human senses.  Scott had told him that when they would study or practice at her house, she always knew where they were even when she wasn’t in the same room as them. Also her and her brother were almost  _ too _ close in a way that pulled the two Betas towards her. She was very affectionate; playing with Stiles’ hair, massaging his shoulders after practice, and once draped herself over him and Isaac where they sat on the couch. 

Isaac desperately tried to remain calm because she used his lap as a headrest while Stiles rolled his eyes at her and went back to doing his homework like that was totally normal behavior.  One of the times that she and Stiles had left for a quick grocery run, Scott had snooped around the house and figured out that the two shared a room with one bed.

_ “Derek, I really hate to judge but I’m pretty sure they sleep in that same bed every night. I can’t even tell the difference between their scents when I’m around them. _ ”

“Yup. I was thinking about heading out to the lake later. It’s just too hot to stay at home and work on homework,” she stopped at the jeep. “And I think it’ll be good for the guys to get their minds off of school for a day.”

“That’s nice of you.”

“You should come too.” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. 

They had been playing a game using his two Betas. She knew he wanted to know more about her, so she didn’t hide much from the two sophomores she took under her academic wing. She also knew that Scott was becoming increasingly uncomfortable whenever she scent marked Stiles but that was because he didn’t know that’s what she was doing in the first place. Isaac followed after her like the lost puppy that he was, always ready to help her and blushing when she praised him for good work.

Honestly, she couldn’t fight the part of her that longed for a full Pack again. And maybe it would be best if she stopped hiding it. Even with the whole Kanima issue, they were on limited time to force this Pack to get their shit together before the main event.

“I think....Isaac and Scott would benefit if their Alpha was there if we’re going to talk about what should be obvious.” She unlocked the jeep and threw her bag into the back. She took in his stunned expression and smiled ruefully. “Next time you ask Scott to look through my stuff, tell him to wear gloves when he digs through my underwear drawer.” 

“What are you?” His growl was low and filled with distrust.

“We’re in public, you idiot. Put the claws away,” she rolled her eyes and deftly stepped aside from his attempted lunge at her. “You want to talk to me? Bring your other Betas and meet us at the lake in two hours.”

  
  


“Are you insane?!” Stiles shook her until he thought his own head would explode. “What happened to easing them into it?”

Alessia shoved her pack brother aside with a snarl that had his shoulders hunched and head bowed in an instant.

“Sorry, Alpha.” Stiles kept his eyes on the floor and bit the inside of his cheek. While they were raised as siblings, he knew better than to forget his place when she was in a mood. Reluctantly, his eyes met her glowing ones and he cautiously bared his throat to her gaze.

The fight immediately went out of her and she pulled him in for a hug. Her claws retracted as her hands patted down his neck and shoulders, the parts of him she could reach. She sighed and let him go, turning back around to dig through the moving boxes to look for the picnic blanket.

“We’re running out of time, Stiles. They need a Bestiary and we have one. They have no idea what they’re doing and at the rate they’re going, one or all of them are going to get themselves killed.”

“I’d rather not have my new friends killed, so maybe you’re onto something there.” Stiles agreed and opened up another box. “Found the blanket.”

“Found the Bestiary. Pack up the sandwiches in the kitchen and put them in the cooler. I’ll scan the pages we need and upload them to the tablet.” 

“Hey Aley…” Stiles took her hand in his and kissed her palm. “I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

  
  


“You’re showing off a lot of skin,” Stiles commented after they unloaded the blanket and food into a wagon. “Planning on giving Isaac a heart attack?”

She rolled a shoulder and grinned, the action dislodging the light shawl she wore. It was rare to see her outside with so much skin bared; it wasn’t because she was self-conscious about her scars, but it was more to put strangers at ease. Today she wore a purple bikini, worn denim shorts, flip-flops and had her long hair up in a bun. The shawl was mostly for the parking lot and walking paths since they did see a handful of other people there.

“Text Scott and tell him to meet us at the edge of the Preserve; it doesn’t look like any of the locals are willing to come out this far.” She put down her tote bag and started unloading the wagon while Stiles did just that.

First she opened up the picnic blanket and placed it down on a nice, grassy spot that was half in the shade. She brought out the food and drink coolers, some sunblock, and then a couple of plastic packages containing even more brightly colored plastic items. 

“He says they’ll be here soon. I call dibs on the duck,” he dropped his phone into her tote back and held his hands out for one the plastic packages. “Nice!” He exclaimed when she tossed him the yellow and orange one.

They had picked a spot close to shore that had a wooden dock which would be perfect for jumping into the water or float around in the large animal floaties they were now blowing up. Stiles had picked a yellow innertube with a duck head, wings, and tail. Alessia was blowing up a lounger float in the shape of butterfly wings.

“So what do we tell them?” He asked, taking a short break since his float was half inflated. 

“I figured we should go the honest route and tell them about the Alpha Pack first and then the Kanima when it gets brought up,” she told him and went back to working on her float. “You know Scott thinks we’re in  _ that _ kind of relationship?”

Stiles’ jaw dropped and hugged his duck float to his chest. 

“Me and  _ you? _ Scott? No!” 

Alessia laughed so hard she fell over. 

“It’s not his fault.” She wiped a tear from her eye and laughed again. “You look like a woman clutching her pearls,  _ Stella. _ ” 

He looked down at the duck he was clutching to his chest and grinned. He placed the back of his hand to his temple and fell over dramatically.

“Say it isn’t so,  _ Alex! _ Only utter degenerates would engage in such scandalous activities!” 

They both laughed and then sighed when a cool breeze ruffled the leaves in the trees behind them. Once their floats were fully inflated, they set them down by the shoreline and sat back down on the blanket. 

“Stiles! Aley!” Isaac called out to them, causing them to turn and wave.

“He’s such a pup,” Aley said with a smile and got up to greet the rest of their party. 

Scott walked up to them with a bag loaded with towels. Derek emerged from the treeline like the melodramatic Alpha that Aley pinned him as, the other two Betas she hadn’t met yet walking alongside him.

_ At least they dressed appropriately, _ she mentally noted since she half expected Derek to show up in his usual black/leather Bad Boy get up. But wow did he look hot in the black and grey boardshorts and white sleeveless shirt. 

“I hope you guys are hungry because we packed a lot of sandwiches. Scott, you can set the bag down next to the wagon. Erica and Boyd right? Help yourselves to the food.” Internally she grinned at their awkward expressions since she only recently got their names from Marin.

“Hello, Derek.” Her grin was all teeth and she repressed the urge to let her eyes glow when he tensed at her greeting. 

“Aley. You said we could talk, so talk.” He really wasn’t one for socializing but he recognized an olive branch when he saw one. He only had scraps of information about this girl and her family, but he suspected she was at least a shapeshifter.

“Easy, big guy.” She held her hands up as a gesture of peace. “We didn’t come here to start any trouble. What do you know about Alpha Packs?”

She didn’t even bother to stop him when he grabbed her by her neck and pinned her to the ground. His Betas were on their feet, eager to attack, but Stiles waved at them to sit back down. 

“It’s their fight, not yours. Sit down and eat your food!” 

He wasn’t even hurting her, so Alessia did nothing even when he squeezed her throat in what he probably thought was a threatening manner. 

“Are you their recruiter?!” He demanded, his body taut with tension. He’d caught word of their movement from the few contacts he had through his mother. His Uncle Peter, as fickle as he was, had also told him to build a strong Pack as fast as he could since he chose to stay in Beacon Hills.

“No. I killed their main recruiter a year ago. Are you going to let me up so we can talk or are you really going to kill the Sheriff’s daughter when he knows about you and your Pack?”

“I wouldn’t do it, man.” Stiles commented. He reached for the bottled water and handed one to each of the Pack members that reluctantly sat near him. “Dad’s packing silver bullets lately.”

“Dude! Why does your dad have silver bullets?!” Scott stared incredulously at his friend.

“Because he’s not stupid,” Aley stated. She smacked Derek’s arm aside hard enough that they could hear the bone crack and sat up. “You’re welcome by the way. They have less numbers so it’ll take them longer to get here.”

Derek flexed his arm, feeling his regeneration healing kicking in. “Tell me what you know,” he growled, claws extending and eyes bleeding into Alpha red.

“I know your Pack won’t survive at the rate you’re going!” Alessia pushed herself onto her feet, her shawl falling from her shoulders. “You haven’t taught them anything!” 

“I’m teaching them how to survive!” Derek shouted, his fangs elongating in his mouth.

“Oh, bullshit! Can you track them? Can you even  _ feel _ when they’re in danger?! Just being an Alpha and having a handful of Betas doesn’t make a Pack strong! It just adds to your power pool while leaving them open for slaughter!” She shouted right back and sneered at him, fangs peeking through her lips and eyes glowing wolf yellow.

“If you know so much about Packs, where’s yours?”

“They’re  _ dead!”  _ She roared, eyes blazing red. And she shoved at his chest with both hands, startling him when he stumbled back. “My Pack  _ died _ refusing to join theirs three years ago!”

Derek froze at that. 

The Creek Pack Massacre rocked the supernatural community and many said they were either foolish or stupid to try and refuse the Alpha Pack. He remembered Laura defending them and getting into brawls over that particular topic. 

“Rumors said there were no survivors,” he said lamely, the fight draining out of him.

“Why would there be?” Her laugh was short and bitter. “They didn’t know I was one of the Alphas when they left Stiles and I for dead.” She let go of the partial shift so she could speak clearly and her eyes returned to their normal state. “Derek, we didn’t move here to fight you. We came to warn and help you before more people got hurt. So just pack in your temper for another day.”

“I don’t...I don’t know what’s killing people,” he grudgingly admitted and was met with her unimpressed stare. “Look, I just know it’s a Kanima, but I don’t have the details and we’ve been trying to get Gerard Argent’s Bestiary for the information--”

“You’re an idiot for even looking in that direction.” She rolled her eyes at him and walked over to the picnic blanket where her tote bag lay in the shade. She said nothing at the stares at her back and ignored the involuntary whimpers that came out of Isaac.

“Oh my god,” Erica gasped and didn’t know why she suddenly felt like crying. She wasn’t the only one; Boyd and Scott wanted to look away, but they couldn’t drag their gaze away from the sight.  Derek used to think that his Uncle Peter’s burns were the worst thing he’d ever seen besides Laura’s dead body, but something in him--his inner wolf--whined at the silver scars that criss-crossed down from the top of Aley’s shoulders to her hips. Only one thing could leave near-permanent marks on a werewolf: injuries from an Alpha.

“Aley…” Isaac reached out to her, his usual self-consciousness around her evaporating in favor of concern, and trailed one finger down one of her scars. “Why...who would do this?”

“Story time, kids.” She grabbed the tablet and turned back towards them. She patted the spot beside her for Derek and he silently took the offered seat. When he also lifted a hand to touch the scars, she inclined her head to let him know it was fine. “When the Alpha Pack wants to grow their numbers, they select a Pack’s Alpha and tell him or her that there is a way to grow their strength. However, in order to do that, the Alpha has to kill their power base: the Betas. They become Augmented Alphas that makes them independent of needing a standard Pack, but since they’re too strong for a Pack, they join one made of other Augmented Alphas. They claim they’re a democracy, but you can’t have that many Alphas in one group without there being a hierarchy.”

Derek placed his hand on her back while she briefly explained what happened to her Pack and grimaced. Her skin had been gouged with claws repeatedly and if he went by her age, she had been younger than all of his Betas when it happened. Being this close to her, he could actually pick up her individual scent, something he hadn’t been able to before because Scott was right. Normally her scent was wrapped up in the scents from her home. 

Fresh rain on grass.

Such a specific scent but also easy to cover up since it was so light. Even fully shifted he didn’t think he’d be able to track it. He could barely track his own Pack unless they howled for help or called him directly, so she had a point there. He knew his Mom could always find him back when she was alive.

“...got us when we had our guard down because we had just thrown a big party. The human members did what they could to get the kids out of the house and away from danger, but it wasn’t...they didn’t stand a chance. Once the Alpha Pack got to the kids, they dragged in the Betas.” She shut her eyes and mentally blocked out the frightened screams of her Pack siblings and the roars from their parents. She took deep breaths and unconsciously leaned into the hand at her back; it gave her strength to get the story out since she was glossing over the gory details to spare the teens in front of her.

“Th-They scented out which kids were related to which Beta and drowned them in front of their parents. Stiles…” She opened her eyes and her pack brother had taken her hands in his; there were tears in his eyes that begged her to skip over the detail of his mom’s death and she nodded. “We slept in puppy piles with the other kids so our scents were nearly indistinguishable from the other’s. So when they thought that he was my brother, I couldn’t let them drown him!”

_ “Aley! Aley, hel--” Little Stiles gurgled around a mouthful of water and came back up desperately gasping for air. “Aley!” _

She heard a keening, agonized whine and it took her a second to realize it was coming from her. She felt hands on her face and heard Stiles telling her to breathe, to follow his breathing pattern and she tried to blink the dark spots out of her eyes. 

“Aley! Look at me! _At me!_ _Breathe!”_ Stiles searched for any part of his sister in her eyes and panicked when he saw only fear. “Fuck! Derek!” He locked eyes with the other Alpha that looked as lost as his Pack. “I need you to hold her tight. She’s not hearing me anymore so we have to hold her so she doesn’t hurt herself! Please!” 

Derek almost refused until the teen grit his teeth and bared his throat to him. Instinct took over and he did what he was asked; he sat cross-legged behind Alessia and pulled her onto his lap. His arms wrapped around hers, pinning them to her sides while he ducked his head against her neck. He heard Stiles encourage the others to get in on the group hug and he would have laughed at how stupid this was if he hadn’t felt Alessia’s wheezing, stuttering breath slowly taper off into a slow, easy rhythm. 

“...why is everyone hugging me?” 

Isaac was the first to let out a laugh of relief while the others untangled themselves from her and Derek. 

“You had a panic attack,” Derek grumbled into her ear and her breath hitched, prompting him to maintain his fierce grip on her. “You’re still coming out of it so I’ll let go when I think you’re ready.”

“But--”

“Whew! It’s gotten hot!” Stiles interrupted and grabbed his duck float. “I’m gonna jump in the lake. Who’s with me? C’mon guys, we’ll let the Alphas sort out the other details.” 

The four members of the Hale Pack looked to their Alpha and he gestured with his head for them to follow after the human. They looked reluctant to leave, but did as they were told. Outer clothes came off and they ran for the dock to jump into the lake.

“Not the duck! Be gentle!”

  
  


“Can I at least have my arms back? This is uncomfortable!” Alessia huffed in annoyance. 

Her heart rate was still higher than he would have liked, but he relaxed his grip long enough for her to free her arms, but resumed his hold over her middle. He straightened his legs so they bracketed around her thighs and gently pulled her closer.

“Relax,” he said, his lips brushing lightly against her ear.

_ Oh, that is so cheating! _ She whined internally but let herself melt into his hold, her head dropping back to rest on his shoulder. 

“Thanks,” she whispered. She was feeling exhausted and it was just so nice to not have to move. “I’m surprised Stiles got you to help.”

He shrugged.

“I almost didn’t, but your brother submitted to me and suddenly doing what he asked didn’t feel like such a big deal to argue against it.”

Her chuckle turned into a cough that had him loosening his grip on her so that his hands rested on her hips.

“Well there’s asking nicely and then there’s  _ appealing to your inner wolf. _ Stiles grew up with my Pack so he picked up the cues on how to behave around the Alphas.”

Damn he smells good.

“Thank you.”

She slapped a hand over her mouth and moved to get up, but his hands pinned her to him. She growled low in her throat at her own lack of control and felt him grin against her neck.

“I like your scent too. It’s nice,” he told her and chuckled when she blushed.

“Thanks,” she grumbled and reached over for the tablet she had been holding earlier. “You don’t need Gerard’s Bestiary.” She turned the tablet on and opened up the file app. “You can use mine.”

She valiantly fought down another blush when his hands left her hips to grip the tablet in her hands and swiped through the images on the screen. She  _ could _ get up and join the others since Stiles was right about it getting hot out, but she had also gotten comfortable being pressed up against the other Alpha.

_ Be still, my raging hormones!  _ She mentally ordered her body and focused on the task at hand. “You’re right that it is a Kanima. It paralyzes its victims from a spike on its tail and then kills them with its claws; I just can’t figure out who it is. There’s too many scents at school to pick up a single specific one and I don’t even know what the hell it smells like to start with. I’m having an even harder time figuring out who is controlling it. It’s like a Sith Lord version of Where’s Waldo.”

“A what?” He stopped reading to pull back to look at her with his eyebrows raised.

_ Oh, don't do that. It’s too adorable,  _ she pouted and rolled her eyes. “You know? Like in Star Wars? There’s always a two; a Master and an Apprentice. The Kanima almost always has a Master that orders it to kill. What, was the book I left behind not a big enough clue?”

“Nerd!” Came a shout from the lake and both Alphas turned their heads to the lake where the swimming Betas were studiously  _ not _ looking at them.

“Oh, they did  _ not!” _ Alessia grabbed the tablet, put it back in her bag and dropped her shorts. She stretched her limbs and threw a cocky grin over her shoulder at Derek. “We can talk shop later, but someone deserves a beating.”

She stepped out of her sandals and took off like a shot down to the dock. She launched herself into the air with a roar of “CANNONBALL!” and plunged into the water. Erica shrieked and swam towards Stiles’ duck float.

“Don’t hide behind me! She can smell fear!” Stiles shouted and awkwardly tried to paddle away but let out a manly scream when he and his duck were forcefully launched out of the water. Scott laughed until he felt strong hands grip his waist and flailed in a panic.

“No! I’m innocent of this crime!” 

One by one, the five teens in the water were unceremoniously thrown around in the water. Derek couldn’t help but laugh and stripped off his shirt to join them. 


	4. Chapter 4

_ “Aley, you’re bleeding.” Stiles’ bottom lip quivered. _

_ It was so quiet that the only sound either of them could hear was the river and her footsteps as she carried him. After the Alpha Pack left, she lifted him into her arms and he hesitantly kept his arms wrapped around her neck, legs braced against her hips. _

_ “It’s okay,” she grunted, ignoring the searing pain of the exposed wounds on her back. She took her left wrist in her right hand and grit her teeth. This was going to hurt like a bitch, but she had to do it. With a muffled cry, she broke her wrist and fell to her knees; her breath hissed between her teeth and she shushed the crying human pressed against her chest. Her vision grew hazy as her body’s regeneration kicked in and she forced herself to shift, nails elongating into claws, copper fur rippled down her arms, and her fangs pressed into her lips hard enough to make them bleed. _

_ “Mommy is--” His young voice broke off with a sob and he hugged her tighter, forcing her to bite back a howl of pain because she had felt it too. They both felt when the bonds between the members of the Pack snapped apart one by one. _

_ “I know, little brother.” _

Alessia’s eyes snapped open. Her heart was racing and she ran a hand through her tangled hair as she sat up in bed. She let out a low whine and hugged her knees to her chest; she had a feeling this would happen. After her panic attack down at the lake a few days ago, memories of that awful night resurfaced with a vengeance. 

She didn’t know whether or not sending Stiles off to spend nights at Scott’s house was either a blessing or a curse. She encouraged the other members to spend more time with each under the guise of building new friendships and connections with each other’s family, but it was more or less Pack bonding. Derek had been the most hesitant about the others spending time with him due to where he was hiding--she ripped him a new one and told him to look for an actual place to live in public because he was just asking for an attack by the Hunters if he continued to stay at the abandoned Railway Depot. 

They ended up having a big fight about the Hunters earlier that day when she told him about her meeting with Chris Argent, which didn’t help her with the flashbacks from the past:

_ “Why would you tell them about the Alpha Pack?” Derek roared at her, his eyes blazing red and his claws extended. _

_ “Because this town is their home too? Because whether you like it or not, Chris Argent’s cousin was part of my Pack and he deserved to know what happened to her! That includes the danger that’s to come!” She hadn’t raised her voice, but it was a near thing.  _

_ “You don’t know what they’re capable of! You’re already putting yourself at risk being at that school while Gerard runs it!” He was furious with her. Part of him was grateful for the help she was giving them, but a bigger part was terrified at getting the Argents involved. The last time he got involved with one of them, she torched his house and killed his family. _

_ “Well good thing that it’s my risk to take since you’re not my Alpha and therefore you don’t get to dictate my choices, Derek!” Her voice steadily rose into a near shout, but she slapped a lid on her temper and forced her breathing to remain even.  _

_ “I might as well be your Alpha since it’s my Pack you’re involved with!” _

_ “As if you even know how to be an Alpha,” she snapped at him, her tone cold and eyes taking on a yellow hue. “It’s more than a title or Pack status!” _

_ He charged at her, clawed hands slamming on either side of her head against the wall. Her ears rang something awful, but she didn’t outwardly show that it affected her. His body caged hers, his breath harsh and his eyes glaring down balefully into hers. _

_ She already knew he wasn’t going to hurt her. He was angry at pretty much everything but her. They both knew he was grasping at straws to keep his Pack together and that she had the most experience being Alpha between the two of them. And she knew he pitied her for her scars; it was what she was betting on that he wouldn’t dare to injure her after seeing them. _

_ Fighting back the urge to roll her eyes, she stepped in closer to him. She wrapped her arms around him, hands pressing against his upper back so he leaned in close against her. She could hear the old tiled wall behind them cracking and crumbling from how hard he dug his claws into it. She didn’t raise her head to look up at him; doing so would bare her throat and she stood by what she said that he wasn’t her Alpha. Instead she turned her head so that her ear rested over his heart. _

_ “What do you think you’re doing?” He snarled at her with an undertone of confusion. _

_ “Think with your head, Derek, not your anger. Trust me when I say I’m trying to keep everyone alive because even Chris Argent doesn’t deserve what happened to his cousin. So please, let it go.” She said quietly.  _

_ She held him until the tension bled out from him and he gradually returned her embrace. She could hear his heart thundering in his chest and she ignored the sharp spike of fear in his scent. _

_ "Bitch." _

She took her phone from the nightstand and checked the time. 

2:00AM

Fuck. 

Only three hours of sleep. It was getting less and less every night. Sighing heavily, she went to her dresser, took out some sweats and socks and got dressed. It was the weekend so there was no point in trying to go back to sleep. She went to her and Stiles' shared desk and wrote a quick note on a post-it before leaving the room, headed downstairs and stuck it on the kitchen table. 

She put on her shoes and locked the front door behind her. She rubbed her arms and shivered out of anxiety rather than from the cold. She went with a grey tank top since California summers nights were still pretty warm. 

There weren't too many houses nearby since they lived towards the outskirts of town, so no one would really notice her walking down the road. She could see in the dark anyway and had her senses extended as far out as she could manage just for personal safety. It was good training to never drop her guard even if it was a little exhausting on top of the lack of sleep.

She supposed it was a good thing that Stiles wasn’t home to wake up to her nightmares and restless night wanderings. More often than not, her feet took her towards Derek at the Railway Depot but she always turned back around to home before she got too close to it. Maybe it was because they were both hurting and even she knew that Pack leaders shouldn’t have to shoulder everything on their own.

If Alessia had to be honest with herself, she did find the Hale Pack Alpha  _ extremely _ attractive in terms of physical appearance. However, it was obvious he had his own emotional scars that probably rivaled her physical ones. It was no wonder that he was floundering as a leader since his emotional trauma led to blunders within his own Pack. Did she really want to pursue what her hormones demanded every time the two of them were alone?

His Pack needed to be united but at what cost? She didn’t feel comfortable at all with that train of thought, but he needed her help. Or maybe it was her that needed the Pack bond that he was desperate to forge so he could feel some measure of peace with his inner wolf?  She had so many questions, but no one to turn to for guidance since most of it had little to do with actually  _ being _ reasonable. Before she knew it, she was at the entrance to the abandoned Depot and found herself hesitating to turn back around and head home.

Derek  _ did _ call her a bitch the day before and maybe she really was a silly bitch for coming back towards the one person who frustrated her more than sticking to her plan. She pinched the bridge above her nose and sighed.

_ I should go home and try to sleep. At least it’s the weekend and I don’t have to be anywhere today. _

Her mental pep talk didn’t really do much besides make her hesitate more while the anxiety ate away at her ability to think logically. Her heart hurt from the memories and her head ached from the sleep deprivation. 

_ What am I even doing anymore? _

Against her will, her eyes filled with tears and she forced herself to turn back towards home where no one was there to comfort her. When had it gotten so hard to stay strong for herself and not just for Stiles? 

Derek wasn’t sure what woke him up at five in the morning, but his senses alerted him to another presence nearby. It was way too early for it to be one of his Pack members since last he checked they were having a sleepover at Scott’s house for the weekend. He was grateful for the time alone since he was still peeved at Alessia’s request for him to at least acknowledge that Chris Argent was different from the rest of his werewolf hating family.

Unable to understand his restlessness, he got up to walk the perimeter of the Depot since he was awake and was surprised when a familiar scent caught his attention. 

“What the hell is she doing here so early?” He asked aloud and strode towards the entryway. He was going to give her a piece of his mind if she just wanted to chew him out again. Even after he called her a bitch the day before, she still gave him a wry smile that was a little more than a sad quirk of her lips.

It pissed him off.

He didn’t need her pity and her stupid suggestions for his Pack that had yet to yield results. Maybe he should tell her what he really thought of the whole situation and see if she would look at him with something other than pity.  His mind set, he ripped open the steel door at the entrance and only saw her back to him.

“Aley,” he snarled and grabbed her shoulder to turn and force her to face him. His nose registered the faint smell of salt water, but his sleep-addled brain didn’t process what that meant until he saw her face to face.

She wasn’t even looking at him, but he could tell he managed to startle her.

_ Good, _ he thought viciously.

“You come back to lecture me some more?” He asked her, annoyed that she was staring at the ground instead of directly into his eyes like she had when they argued.

She shook her head and took a step back.

“No. Sorry for bothering you, Derek. I just…” She trailed off and hunched her shoulders. “I couldn’t sleep and went for a walk.”

“And you came here?”

“Not on purpose,” she shrugged. “It’s not like I know that many other places where I wouldn’t be bothered in the middle of the night or early morning. Again, I’m sorry for bothering you.”

Her voice was quiet and he almost believed her if it wasn’t for the fact that she woke him up just to leave and not explain herself. 

“Yeah, well consider me bothered.”

Her body curled further inwards and took another step back. For some reason that just irritated him more, so he took her by the shoulders and pressed his claws into her skin just short of drawing blood. 

“Tell me why you’re  _ really _ here.”

“I don’t know, okay?!” She jerked out of his hold, uncaring that his claws marked the skin of her arms and she raised her head to glare up at him. “I just couldn’t sleep, alright? So I went for a walk and ended up here because  _ the fuck _ if I know why!” 

There were tear tracks down the sides of her face, her eyes puffy from crying and cheeks red with frustration. What did he want from her? This was such a mess!

He gripped her chin with his hand, his thumb tracing the tear tracks down one cheek and his brows furrowed in confusion. There were dark circles under her eyes and she was trembling; he could hear her heart pounding like it had after her panic attack at the lake. He could also hear the sobs and whimpers she was desperately trying to suppress and he was reminded of his own reactions to when he thought about the fire that ruined his life.  While he still didn’t have the full story of what happened to her Pack, he knew trauma like that would take years to recover from so she wasn’t as robotically pragmatic as he initially assumed. No, right now she looked more human and on the edge of an emotional meltdown. 

"And you call me an idiot," he groused and lifted her into his arms in a bridal carry. 

"I'm sorry you're an idiot," she whispered against his ear. 

"I could drop you." He told her as he carried her inside. "I can't say I'd feel bad at all if I did." He half joked and brought her to the train car he used as a bedroom. 

The bed was little more than a fitted sheet on a mattress on top of pallets and a light comforter. He used one arm to hold her up while his free hand stacked the pillows against the wall. He got into the bed, his back pressed against the pillows and maneuvered her so that her legs straddled his hips.  He was surprised that she hadn't said anything or made a single sound of complaint about what he was doing. She barely moved even after he dragged the comforter up to her shoulders, but merely rested her head against his shoulder and let out a quiet whine that tapered off into a soft sob.  Despite the painful hitches in her breaths, he felt her body relax against his. A pleased growl rumbled in his chest as he rubbed the tip of his nose against her temple, his inner wolf content with her responses to his actions. 

"This should bother me, but it doesn't." He said and when she lifted her head to look at him with a questioning stare, he gestured with his chin down towards her. "I'm not the comforting type."  He lifted a corner of the blanket to wipe the tears from her face and froze when she tilted her head back, exposing her throat to him. Instinct drove him to press his lips against her pulse point and he shifted them down the bed so they could lay side by side.  "I thought you said I wasn't your Alpha." He said and smirked when she shivered and hummed low in her throat. 

"You're not but you are finally behaving like one," she said pointedly, her hands reaching up to cup his strong jawline. "Because being Alpha means taking care of your Pack in whatever way they need."

"So you think you're Pack now?" 

A fresh wave of tears clouded her eyes and she pulled away from him, his arm the only thing stopping her from getting up and leaving. He gripped her by the chin and forced her to look at him. She still shook her head, breaking away from his hold and blinked away the tears. 

"I wouldn't assume that I would have a place in your Pack, Derek. That's your choice, not mine." She tried to muster up an encouraging smile, but her expression crumpled while she cried. 

_ But I would give anything to be a part of one again.  _

She pulled the comforter up to cover her face, but his grip on the blanket had her pulling it up to just her nose. She couldn't see his facial expression very well despite how close they were due to her tears, but if she could, she probably would have been stunned by the look of wonder on his face. 

Derek had seen how she almost seamlessly integrated herself and Stiles into his Pack. The two of them offered casual comfort and often played mediator between the members that butted heads over anything and everything.  Isaac and Scott already looked up to her since their grades had been improving; something Derek used to be annoyed about because they would prioritize school over finding out who the Kanima was. But even that managed to work out since Melissa McCall started being more lenient on them when they would disappear for hours during the night.  Erica and Boyd were still reckless, but new werewolves tended to be. He couldn't figure out how to break them from the habit in order to be cautious enough not to expose themselves, but Alessia took one look at him and smirked.  She took the two of them under her wing by spending her lunches at school with them or taking them out to the movies at night.  He didn't know what she said, but the two had managed to calm down enough to behave. 

But it was still his choice to make her a part of the Pack despite how obvious it was that she was already a member. He knew how she felt, feeling listless and lost; he and Laura had tried to join one of the Packs in New York after the fire, but most of them turned them away or kept them around without actually acknowledging them as members.  It was a novelty to actually have the  _ choice  _ since he was in charge of them. He had the feeling that if he rejected her now, she would still help him even if it hurt her, so he buried his pride and gently tugged the blanket away from her face. He wiped her tears with the blanket corner and pulled her in closer so that their noses brushed against each other. 

"You're an idiot," he mumbled, his lips a breath apart from hers. "Go to sleep, Aley."

She closed her eyes and smiled, letting her exhaustion take over. 

Derek woke up feeling more well rested and comfortable than he had in years. He stretched leisurely and immediately froze at the soft moan against his ear. It took a few seconds for his brain to recall the events of that morning and he slowly relaxed. This was the perfect time to study his newest Pack member uninterrupted.  Alessia was curled against him, one arm wrapped around his shoulder and her legs tangled with his under the blanket. He recalled how she said that he used to sleep in puppy piles with her old Pack, so this cuddling was perfectly natural. It was so natural that his body reacted accordingly and he bit back a groan and tried to will down his morning wood. 

It didn't help that she was also slowly waking up and her expressive eyes opened to look into his. 

"Hi," she whispered to him in the dark, lips curling up into a tired smile. 

Instead of feeling awkward, he smiled back at her, the arm wrapped around her hip flexing as he rolled over onto his back so that she lay on top of him. 

"I had plans today," he lied easily and let out a pleased hum when her eyes narrowed and she smirked down at him. 

"Oh?" She asked and used her hands on his shoulders to sit up. "And what were these supposed plans today, Alpha?" 

The formal use of his Pack status stirred something in his blood and he followed her up into a sitting position so that they were pressed chest to chest. It felt strangely natural to be so close to another person when he was used to pushing others away; he knew that even though he added members to his Pack, he still kept them at an arm’s distance from himself.

“I was going to check on the others to see if the McCall house is still standing,” he joked and squeezed her for a hug. “But since neither of our phones have gone off, I can assume they’re doing fine.”

Alessia chuckled and rubbed her nose against his neck, taking in the comfort of not just his embrace but his scent as well. Oh, how she missed this: the skin on skin contact and being next to another wolf. Scent marking Stiles was second nature, but this? She could touch Derek all day and be content.

“You scent marking me, Aley?” He asked, not at all bothered by her behavior and more than pleased that his scent wrapped around hers as surely as he was physically wrapped around her.

“I can’t help it,” she purred, back arching when he ran his hands down her spine, enjoying the brief touch of his skin on hers. “It’s been a long time since I met another born werewolf who smelled this good.”

“How many born werewolves were in your Pack?” He was genuinely curious. He knew the Creek Pack was fairly large as far as Packs went.

“Out of the twenty of us? Including me, five. Abigail, Connor, Gabe, and Miranda. The rest were bitten or humans.” It didn’t hurt to talk about anymore and if anything, it was cathartic to talk to someone from the outside about it.

“How many were Alphas?”

“Seven.”

“That’s more than the Alpha Pack has! Were you guys just collecting them?”

She shrugged.

“Kind of? Some of us were born special,” she paused, not sure if he was ready to hear what should have been a myth.

“Born special? Wait, you can’t just be  _ born _ an Alpha unless…” He trailed off, racking his brain for the old fairy tales his mom used to tell him.  In-Between werewolves were so rare that they only stayed in the most protective Packs. The stories say they were the product of a werewolf and a corporeal Spirit. It made sense that one of the largest Packs would have a few of them. And he thought puberty was rough for the average born werewolf; to be  _ born an Alpha _ must have been an aggressive time for everyone.

“Is that why they came after your Pack?” He asked solemnly. 

“They didn’t know about the In-Betweens, but we had so many Alphas to begin with that they thought it would be easy to pick one out to betray us. Tyler wouldn’t do it; he had been bitten pretty young so he grew up with Stiles and I.” She shuddered because she could still hear his roar when he died refusing to attack their own.

“Hey, hey. Come back to me, Aley.” Derek told her, the jump in her heart rate alerting him to where her mind was going. “We can talk about something else if you want.”

She shook her head and forced herself to relax in his embrace.

“No, it’s okay. The memories hurt, but I can’t keep burying them just because they make me upset. You would have liked Tyler despite how young he was.”

“What was he like?” Derek imagined this Tyler to be like Scott, an all around good guy trying to do his best.

“Oh, he was a brat,” she chuckled and full out laughed at his pointed stare. “He was a Beta that wanted to prove himself to the older Alphas, but would keep having to be rescued every time he tried.”

“I would have liked  _ that?” _ He asked her incredulously. “Sounds like a pain in the ass little brother type.”

“Is there any other kind?” She chuckled, then giggled when her stomach let out a growl. “We should go eat. I haven’t eaten since yesterday.”

They went out and got pizza, buying several large orders that they brought to Scott’s house. They pulled up to the house in Derek’s car, unloaded the food and rang the doorbell. There was a stampede of footsteps leading up to the front door and it flew open to reveal a panicked Isaac.

“Allison is here,” was all he said before Derek pushed his way inside, Alessia trailing after him. She patted Isaac on the shoulder as he shut the door behind them. They could hear yelling from further inside the house.

“...can’t be with you if you’re more into your Pack than being with me!”

“Then maybe your mom was right that we shouldn’t be together then! I’m tired of keeping it a secret just because I’m a werewolf and you’re a Hunter!”

“That’s not fair! I didn’t choose to be like my family until I was forced into it to try and keep you safe! It doesn’t help that there’s a monster out there killing innocent people!”

Derek stepped into the living room, eyes glowering and lips set in a stern line. He didn’t like the view of what he walked into: Scott and Allison on their feet yelling, Erica and Boyd standing just behind Scott as silent support, and Stiles wringing his hands unsure of what to do or say. 

“What the hell is going on in here?” He said, tone commanding as everyone minus Aley flinched at the anger in his voice. 

“Nothing!” Scott yelped, surprised to see his Alpha in his house. He didn’t even hear the doorbell or notice he came in. “We were just talking!”

“This isn’t talking, Scott.” Aley said. She had set the food down on the dining table and stepped in beside Derek. “I’m surprised the neighbors haven’t filed a noise complaint yet.”

“You were in a tent with four other people, Scott! What am I supposed to think?!”

“We were literally just sleeping! We had a sleepover and decided my room wasn’t going to fit everyone!”

“You were sleeping on  _ her _ chest!” Allison pointed an indignant finger at Erica, who absently cupped her boobs and shrugged.

“They make great pillows. Who wouldn’t want to sleep on them?”

Stiles let out a nervous laugh and hid behind Boyd when Allison glared in his direction.

“I wasn’t expecting to walk in on my boyfriend in some...freaky fivesome!” 

“Alright, enough!” Alessia stepped forward, her hand brushing against Derek’s to let him know she’d be taking over the conversation. “It’s called Pack bonding, little Argent. Ever heard of puppy piles? Out of these five,” she gestured around them, “Stiles is the only human. For all you know they were trying to keep him warm. Whether you like it or not, it’s a safe and comforting environment when they’re all together!”

Allison clenched her fists and fought the urge to stomp her foot in frustration. She glared hatefully at Alessia even though she knew it was the truth. She didn’t train to become a Hunter and not know the basics of how werewolf Packs worked, but it was another thing to see it! She came over to have lunch with Scott, but when he didn’t answer the door, she went through the side gate to the backyard and found the tent. Curious, she unzipped it and saw Scott on top of Erica, Boyd wrapped around his left side with Stiles sandwiched between them and Isaac snuggling on his right. Part of her was thankful they were all mostly clothed, but another bigger, angrier part of her was furious at finding him like that.

“I can’t...I can’t do this!” She took a step back, then another, and another.

“Allison!”

“We’re done, Scott!” She threw over her shoulder as she ran out of the house.

_ “Allison!” _


	5. Chapter 5

Scott stood in his living room, hands clenched into fists and eyes shut tight. Sure, he “broke up” with Allison to please her family, but this time it felt more final. He really tried to make her understand that bonding with his Pack was just as important to him as she was. He was so angry he didn’t notice the blood dripping from his fists because of his claws or that his face transformed and his fangs bit into the soft skin of his lips.

“Scott…” Alessia said softly as she stood directly in front of him. “It’ll be okay, you’ll see.”

“It’s not okay!” He roared angrily. “I tried to do what she wanted and tried to do what you said and look where that’s gotten me! I can’t be a good boyfriend and good member of this Pack without giving up one or the other!”

“Yes, you can.” She stated calmly in the face of his fury. “You really think Allison is the only Argent to fall for someone of the supernatural variety and make it work? It’s the main reason her family is driving her so hard to be the next generation of Hunters.” She ignored his next roar of frustration and blinked slowly, eyes bleeding into an Alpha red. “Just let it out before it eats you up inside. The more you accept yourself, the easier this gets.”

His yellow eyes stared defiantly into her red ones, but his instincts had him hunching his shoulders and quickly diverting his gaze from hers. Involuntary tears streamed from his eyes and his werewolf features receded.

She sighed heavily and pulled him in for a hug. _Puppies, I swear._ She thought to herself and squeezed him tight. “Hug me back, it’ll make you feel better.”

“Aley gives the best hugs,” Stiles said softly from behind Boyd, who perked up at the thought and stepped forward to get a piece of the ‘best hug’. Isaac and Erica weren’t far behind, wrapping their arms around their hurting Beta and new Alpha.

Derek stood there, feeling more than a little out of his depth with the emotional situation in front of him. He gave a startled grunt when Stiles shoved him forward and rolled his eyes at him.

“You’re Alpha too. Get in there and make sure Scott’s okay!” Stiles said and joined the group hug, finding a place between Isaac and Boyd.

“Shh, it’s okay Scott,” Aley whispered and she looked up to stare down Derek, who eventually gave in to join the group hug. Hesitantly, he patted Scott’s head and the younger Beta shuddered, his own arms finally reaching up to embrace his Pack.

Scott was upstairs taking a shower while the others devoured the pizza their Alphas brought them. Stiles sat with his back to the wall nearby the bathroom door, figuring it would be a good idea to stay nearby just in case. His friend didn't take long; he was in the shower for at most ten minutes before he walked out, towel wrapped around his hips. 

"Hey Stiles," his voice was gruff from crying, "What did Aley mean earlier? When she was talking to Allison, she said she wasn't the only Argent to fall for someone who was supernatural."

"Exactly what she said, dude. We grew up with a member from the Argent family who fell in love and married someone from the Pack." Stiles answered honestly. "Sure they had some ups and downs, but they made it work in the end."

"That's…" He paused, suddenly remembering just what had happened to Stiles old Pack and sighed. "I'm glad it worked out for someone at least." _While it lasted_ went unsaid but Stiles just smiled at him. 

"Get dressed and then come downstairs before the pizza is gone. You gotta eat something, man."

"You know, you're really good at talking people down." Erica commented while they sat at the table. She was staring at Alessia, who took a bite of her own slice and shrugged in response. 

"It's not the first human/werewolf break up I've seen. This was probably one of the nicer outcomes, to be honest." 

She saw Derek flinch out of the corner of her eye and quickly changed the subject. 

"Anyway, I hope you all learned something during your sleepover. Can you tell each other apart by scent yet?" She kept her face completely neutral while she felt Derek squeeze her knee in thanks from under the table. He sat to her left, across from Erica and Isaac with Boyd to her right. 

Isaac hesitantly raised his hand and ducked his head sheepishly when they all turned to him. 

"I don't even know my own scent, but Scott smells like pumpkin and something else. Stiles smells like Christmas...kind of?" He nervously chuckled. 

Alessia nodded in agreement. 

"Pine and peppermint. Scott is more cinnamon than pumpkin. Anyone else?" 

Erica smiled timidly and leaned against Isaac, taking a good whiff from his shoulder. 

"Isaac is like rain on the blacktop at school. I think Boyd is more…like the library? That comfortable book smell, you know?" 

Boyd grinned back at her. He really did enjoy reading. "Thanks Erica. You're burnt sugar. Sweet but not too sweet."

 _Oh, dear lord._ Alessia internally rolled her eyes. The pheromones wafting off those two was almost enough to make her nose wrinkle. _I'm surrounded by twitter-pated puppies._

"Hey, is there still enough food for me?" Scott asked. He had come down the stairs with Stiles and lifted one of the boxes to see if there was any pizza left. Isaac slid over the last full box over to him. "Thanks. So what are you guys talking about?" 

They filled him in on the different scents they all had--Stiles actually pouted at being told he smelled like Christmas--and then asked Scott if he could tell the difference yet. 

"I get what you guys are saying, but you two make it difficult." He gestured towards Alessia and Derek. The former smiled serenely while the latter raised his brows in question. "Well you do! I can't separate your scents from the other!" Scott huffed before taking a bite of the pepperoni pizza. 

Stiles was reaching for a slice when Scott's words registered and he wagged his eyebrows suggestively in Alessia's direction. 

"Shut up, nerd."

"I didn't even say anything!" Stiles mock glared and took his slice from Scott's box. 

"I don't get it," said Isaac. "They both smell like some kind of tree and lemon." 

The other Betas blinked, then stared at the two Alphas. 

"Hey. Why _were_ the two of you together when you came over with food?" Scott asked almost suspiciously. 

"Because I was trying to convince Derek to actually find a place to live that wouldn't put him in so much danger." Alessia lied smoothly; none of the others suspected otherwise since she kept her heart rate steady and even Derek looked impressed until his brain caught up with her words. 

"What's wrong with where I stay?" He wanted to argue, but knew she had a point. She had found him without even asking because there were only so many abandoned places he would live. 

"Everyone's safety is the main priority and that includes you. Find an apartment or hell, buy a whole complex somewhere so that normal people won't bother you when you transform." She stated it matter-of-factly because he had to be an idiot if he didn't know that she knew he had money. Most Packs were loaded with money from investments and savings and the Hale Pack was pretty well known for living comfortably with a leader like Talia Hale. And honestly, if he was going to be stubborn about this, she'd buy the building for him. 

"That's not a bad idea," he said thoughtfully. "It would be easier to reach the others in case something happens."

"And you'd know if someone was in trouble through the Pack link," Stiles said idly. When everyone but Alessia stared at him, he stared up at the ceiling as if seeking help from whatever deity would listen to him. "This is why Pack bonding is important; it's not just getting to know each other because eventually, you can actually feel each other on a metaphysical level. It's like we're all on a tether and when someone is hurt or scared or even in danger, the tether gets pulled and the Alpha or Alphas can feel it."

"What?" Isaac, Scott and Derek all said at once. 

"So…you mean like how a spiderweb works?" Boyd asked. "Like when something gets caught in its web, it can feel that there's something there?" 

Alessia gave the younger teen a sunny smile and gently squeezed his forearm. 

"The spider web analogy is pretty similar to how it works."

"Yeah, it's how I know you almost had a panic attack this morning." Stiles said. "Thanks for waking me up in the middle of cuddle time, Aley!" 

"You're so dramatic," Alessia said with a roll of her eyes. "It was just a _little_ anxiety, but I got over it." 

"With help!" He blatantly stared right at her, doing his best not to look at Derek. There was only one way their scents would be so entwined that they were indecipherable from the other; it was a product of sleeping in close quarters. He was impressed by the Betas for having a good enough nose to pick out each other's scents after being wrapped up in each other overnight, but he didn't need an inhuman sense of smell to understand the obvious. 

After the pizza was finished, they went their separate ways. The boys had afternoon lacrosse practice and Erica had to go home to catch up on some homework. That left the two Alphas alone. 

Again. 

Derek didn't bother to mention the nearly venomous glare Stiles gave him when they left Scott's house since Aley pulled Stiles aside for a few minutes and he went to practice a little more subdued. She got into his car and told him to head for downtown, explaining how a more public setting would keep the Hunters from acting out in the open. If he didn't know any better, he'd think she had scoped out all the complexes beforehand. And maybe she had; the Stilinskis didn't have to live in a house, but they still chose to. 

Instead of her tagging along, Derek felt like he was the tag-along for this public adventure. She asked him what he thought of each place and never once forced him into making a decision. They spent the whole afternoon driving around looking at places and when he felt like he had reached his limit, he snapped at her. 

"Why don't you just pick for me? There's better things we could have gotten done today like figuring out if it's Lydia or Jackson that fits the bill for being the Kanima!" 

She stared at him like he was stupid which only raised his hackles and had her pinned to the hood of his car in some backlot of a brutalist, rundown building. She kept up the blank stare and covered the hands that pinned her by her hip and shoulder. 

"Derek. I'm Pack, not your keeper. If this was getting too much, you need to tell me. I'm not a mind reader and I shouldn't have to guess based off of your body language alone." She told him quietly, her hands remaining still even though they both knew she could easily throw him off of her. 

"It's a lot, okay? I haven't actually lived anywhere since New York and before that--I just...I need time to process." He admitted to her and for once, didn't feel weak for saying it out loud. He pulled her up from the hood so she was sitting on it, his hands going from aggressive to searching for any bruises or marks he may have left on her. They were both Alphas so they could easily leave long term injuries on one another; the scars he left on her arms from this morning still looked fresh and guilt rolled in his gut. 

"Derek," she kept her tone light and brushed aside his hands. "I'm okay. You didn't hurt me. Look at me when I'm talking to you." To her surprise, he hunched down and bared his throat to her in apology and her heart clenched in her chest. "Hey, no. No hiding."

She reached up for his shoulders and gently pushed down so that he would have to bend his knees for them to be eye level with each other. She knew this had to be hard for him; she at least had therapy for her own personal trauma and it took years of unlearning bad habits so she could function, but she doubted Derek even thought of utilizing the same tools she had. He looked on the brink of running away from her; his eyes were so lost and the lines of his shoulders were taut with tension. She pressed her forehead to his, hands reaching up to just behind his ears, fingers pressing firmly from the side of his head down to his jawline. She felt his jaw unclench and he leaned into her touch. She shifted back so he could sit on the hood with her, his back to her chest while she worked on the tension in his shoulders. 

"You're okay, Derek. You don't have to make a decision today; it's up to you where you want to live. Today was about showing you your options." She deemed him to be suitably relaxed and rested her head in the crook of his neck and shoulder. Just breathing in his scent relaxed her and kept her thoughts grounded. 

"Why are you so good at this?" Derek mumbled. 

"My Den Mom was a therapist and social worker." She said before sliding off the hood to stand in front him. "Come on, Alpha. I'm taking you home with me." 

The guest room in the Stilinski house has a paper sign taped at the edges that said: FOR PACK USE ONLY. It was the master bedroom of the house since Noah Stilinski knew he'd be half living out of the Sheriff's office and was fine with taking one of the other bedrooms. Alessia's shared bedroom with Stiles was comfy since she once shared a room with five other teens, but this room was reinforced and sound proofed. Alessia may have been a daddy's girl, but she was legally an adult and her Pops _had_ to be open minded to be married to the Creek Pack Den Mom.

But sometimes… 

"Dad, _I_ know what this room means and _you_ know what this room means. And I'm _pretty_ sure that's Derek's car parked at the curb…" Stiles said as they both stared at the sign in the door that had Aley’s handwriting spelling out "occupied" under the bold writing detailing the name of the room. Both men came home to enough cooked steaks and veggies in the fridge to feed them for tonight and the next day. 

Noah Stilinski uncrossed his arms and ruffled his son's short hair. 

"Against my better judgment, I trust your sister. But if she comes out that door pregnant, I'm shooting him."

 _"Dad!"_ Stiles let out a yelp filled with secondhand embarrassment, flushing bright red. 

"Come on, kiddo. You and I can go over case notes together. I think I found a pattern from the murders."

Derek wasn't sure if Alessia's decision to let him shower first was the right one. On one hand, he really missed hot water and bless whichever one of the people in this household stocked the bathroom with unscented soap, shampoo and conditioner. On the other hand, she hadn't taken much with her in terms of clothes when it was her turn. To be fair, he hadn't brought much with him either when they stopped by at the Railroad Depot so he could pick up what few belongings he had there and she did tell him to sleep in what was most comfortable for him. Her wolf whistle when he stepped out of the bathroom in his boxer briefs made him want to run to his duffel bag and throw on a shirt. He was pretty sure she had growled appreciatively when she looked him up and down before closing the bathroom door behind her. 

He ended up opting out of the shirt and studied the room he'd be staying in: it was pretty spacious with a low bed frame and California King sized mattress. There was a flat screen TV mounted on the wall opposite the bed with a large desk pressed against the same wall beneath it. There were nightstands on either side of the bed, a walk in closet with built in shelves and drawers near the master bathroom door, and the walls were painted to look like a forest. Various picture frames decorated the room and they were filled with what had to be the Stilinski's old Pack. He stopped by one frame in particular; a tall brunette being swung around in the arms of a blond man with wolf yellow eyes, both were grinning at the camera. What gave him pause however, was how much the brunette in the picture looked like Allison Argent. 

The opening of the bathroom door startled him from his thoughts and he immediately zeroed in on Alessia, who was drying her hair with a towel. She was wearing what he hoped to high heaven were shorts and a black T-shirt with white printing that said "I'm a were*"

"You sure did make yourself comfortable," she said lightly. She set the towel down on the back of the desk chair, and stood beside him to see which picture he was looking at. "Oh. Davina and Uncle Connor. They were such a cute couple."

“Davina...Argent?” Derek wrapped an arm around her waist when she shuddered and he knew it wasn’t from the cold. “Chris Argent’s cousin. The one you told me about.”

“Yep. Davina used to be a Hunter, but she fell for Uncle Connor and left the main family to become a Protector instead. She taught us younger pack members self-defense and basic tracking.” Alessia said and leaned against him, a sad smile on her lips. “She wouldn’t abandon us even though she knew she didn’t stand a chance.”

“She’s who you were referencing earlier when you talked to Scott,” he commented.

“Oh, her and Uncle Connor’s relationship was a rocky one for sure. I think they broke up about four or five times out of concern for each other’s safety until Abigail smacked them both and told them to deal with it.” She took his hand and pulled him away to sit on the bed.

“Abigail?”

“Creek. She was our Pack Alpha and a born werewolf just like you,” she said.

“Could she...could she full shift into a wolf?” He asked, wondering if it was something only his mom could accomplish.

“Yes,” she said and sighed. “Sometimes I wondered if there was anything she couldn’t do, until...well, you know.” She shrugged. She pulled back the covers and got into the bed to lay down. 

“Why doesn't this feel weird?” Derek asked as he got into bed beside her. He lifted a hand to trace the scars he left on her exposed arm. “The sleeping with you thing, I mean. Also I’m sorry for these by the way.”

“Probably because we’re both Alphas and since I’m new to your pack, your instincts are telling you to keep an eye on me. And don’t be sorry; I’m okay. They’ll heal.” She placed a hand over his and squeezed gently.

“Is that what it is? And the constant touching is a pack thing too?” 

“Well, a little bit of it is; it’s pretty obvious I’m attracted to you.” She smirked and grinned when he smiled back. God, he had such a great smile. “So tell me more about Lydia and Jackson. Why do you suspect one of them could be the Kanima?”

He told her about Jackson’s need to become a werewolf so he could surpass the progress Isaac and Scott gained when it came to lacrosse. And how Derek had bit him and waited on him to show signs of turning. She rolled her eyes at him and joked about him wanting to expand his Pack that badly, giggling when he pounced on her, pinning her back to the bed. Her eyes went wide when he explained how Lydia survived an Alpha bite from his Uncle Peter and showed zero signs of turning even after she resurrected him.

“Your Uncle sounds like a sick puppy if he has that kind of knowledge. No offense,” she added last minute. “For Lydia though...it’s possible she was already something Supernatural, so she can’t become a werewolf if she’s already something else.”

“Peter hasn’t been the same since the fire. I still haven’t forgiven him for killing Laura for her Alpha spark, but he’s all I’ve got left of my family,” Derek said bitterly. “I killed him and became the Alpha, but with him back and not knowing where he is or what he’s up to…”

“It’s concerning to say the least,” she agreed with him. She idly rubbed her legs against his, raising her head to nuzzle against his cheek. “We’ll figure it out.”

It should be a crime to smell this good.

“Thanks,” he said with a grin and kept her in place when she tried to turn away in mortification. “Hey, no hiding from me.”

“Oh my God just kill me! I can’t control my mouth around you!” She groaned.

“I’ll take that as a plus for me,” he chuckled and let out a pleased growl when she blushed.

“This is so embarrassing! Why do you have to be so hot?” She slapped a hand over her mouth. She watched him shrug and tried to sink further into the mattress. His hands removed her hand from her mouth and nipped at her fingertips.

“I like staying in shape and you seem to like it, so why not?” He rolled them over onto their sides. “Thanks for today.” He didn’t elaborate on which part he was thanking her for; he was grateful she changed the subject when she talked about relationships with Argents and for keeping him calm when he felt overwhelmed after apartment hunting.

“You’re welcome, Alpha.” She said with a nip to his chin.

Fire raced through his blood from hearing the formal status. His hands went to the sides of her face and he pressed his lips to hers. He would be lying to himself if he didn’t feel attracted to her at a base level, but the fact that she could get him riled by just calling him Alpha? His need to touch her became insatiable. He pulled back just long enough to look at her. Her eyes had bled into Alpha red and she was leaning in for another kiss. He couldn’t see it, but he felt his own eyes change when he met her lips with a groan. This almost felt too fast in the short time he had known her, but it also felt so right.

"You have to know what that does to me when you call me that," His mouth trailed kisses from her lips down to her neck. He playfully bit at the skin at the crook of her neck and growled appreciatively at her gasp. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and neck to pull him closer, and she shuddered when his tongue lapped at her tender skin. 

"When I call you what?" She asked coyly. "Is there a problem… _Alpha?"_ She let out a shriek of delight as his trailing kisses passed her clavicle became a feral bite on her shoulder. He was using human teeth, but they both knew he was marking her. 

Derek turned to lay on his back and pulled her on top of him to cuddle. As pleased as he was with her, he didn't feel ready to go all the way. She seemed to be 100% on board with doing more than just actually sleeping with him, but his gut was telling him it would be more than that if they had sex. 

And that wasn't something he was ready to analyze just yet. 

Alessia didn't fully lay on top of Derek; she was mostly on her side with her head resting over his heart. She could both feel and hear the almost panicked rhythm. Trailing one hand down his washboard abs--one day she was so going to bite that--she tugged at the elastic band of his boxer briefs. He reached down for her hand and brought it back up to his lips, kissed her palm, then released it to tilt her head up for another kiss. 

"Not tonight."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point I'm teasing you guys and myself because as much as we wanna watch them bang, FEELINGS COME FIRST!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Upped the rating because juicy, smutty NSFW incoming

_Her Den Mom wasn’t married to a deputy or trained to be a protector for nothing; Claudia Stiles stood back to back with Davina Argent, guns drawn and lips formed in a thin line of determination. The two of them kept calm eyes on the younger Pack members that huddled around Alessia and Tyler, the next oldest werewolves in the Pack. The Alpha Pack fire bombed the house, but it was Tyler who escaped their clutches to rush the younger kids out while Davina and Claudia laid cover fire along their escape route._

_The Betas were struggling to push back the Alpha Pack since they were playing support for their own Alpas. Alessia could hear roars, screams, and the pounding of adrenaline fueled heartbeats. It didn’t take long for them to be pushed back to the river’s edge; what had to be lower members of the Alpha Pack dragging the Betas behind them._

_Gloria Marks was a school teacher and also one of their strongest Betas. To see her dragged to the river shore like a ragdoll had Aley and the younger members whining in distress. The brutal murders of Davina and Claudia soon had them screaming in fear because that’s when they came for the kids. Kennedy Marks was only six years old when the Alpha Pack scented her out and dragged her in front of her mother._

_“Mommy! Mommy get up!”_

_Hearing her pup’s cries, Gloria went feral. She bit the arm off the Alpha that held her, claws shredding his chest to get to his heart. Alessia kept the other kids huddled behind her, hands covering their eyes while her body shielded their eyes from the carnage._

_“Mommy! Mommy it hurts! They’re hurting m--”_

Alessia threw herself out of bed.

She landed on the floor roughly, heartbeat racing and claws digging into the carpet while she desperately tried to find anything to anchor herself. She tried to focus on Stiles, to hear his heartbeat through the walls of the house, but all that kept coming back to her was the sickening squelch of the claw that ripped out Claudia Stiles’ heart and Stiles’ scream of horror ringing in her ears.

“I can’t--I don’t want to remember--” She whined through clenched fangs and almost jumped out of her skin from the feeling of strong arms wrapping around her crouched form. “Derek,” she gasped around the sob that was building in her chest. “Help me!”

Derek followed his instincts and did what Stiles asked of him that day at the lake; he dragged her onto his lap, arms pinning her back to his chest using his werewolf strength. He could almost hear her bones cracking from the strength of his grip, but he refused to relax his hold.

“Breathe with me, Aley. In through your nose and out through your mouth. Wherever you are, come back to me.” His voice sounded different to his ears, more growl than actual words, but the intent behind them was reaching her. 

Her thrashing had subsided while she dragged in ragged breaths before letting out a low whine of despair. She slumped in his embrace, sobbing quietly, her hands covering her face. She curled up on his lap and he loosened his hold just enough so she could turn and bury her face against his chest. With shuddering breaths, she told him in short whispers what she dreamed of. Tears continuously fell from her eyes as she described the feeling of the Pack bonds snapping violently one by one; how each severed tie physically felt like someone had gripped her heart and tried to force it up out of her mouth until she was choking on the sorrow and agony.

He kissed away her tears, pulling down some of the blanket to wipe at her eyes. He nuzzled her cheek and neck, rubbing his scent into her own, somehow knowing that it would comfort her as well as himself. He knew exactly what she was describing; he had felt the same when he was in high school when the fire claimed the lives of his family members that were trapped in the house.

“I’m sorry, Der.” She mumbled while he ran a hand through her hair and lifted them back onto the bed. “I brought you home with me to help _you_.”

He shook his head and kissed her slow and fiercely. It was just a press of his lips to hers, but he poured his feelings into it. He was grateful that she came into his life and wanted to teach him how to be a better Pack leader; he had to know how to care for his Pack if he wanted to be even remotely successful and she taught him that even when she had her own hang ups to deal with.

“I think that between the two of us, we have a lot of past trauma that we just can’t forget. I’m not going to fault you for having nightmares about your past when the same happens to me on occasion.” He said, mouth turning into a frown at the bruises he left on her arms. He knew it was because he was an Alpha that her injuries would be slower to heal, but he still didn’t like knowing that he hurt her.

“Thanks, Derek.” 

She sank into his warmth and smiled when he pressed kisses to the bruises on her arms. It was almost unnatural how well she fit against him, but their Pack bond was still so new that she didn’t want to push into anything he wasn’t ready for. She didn’t mind that they had only slept with each other instead of having sex the night before; intercourse between werewolves was intense and the potential to break the bed was high. Alessia really wasn’t in the mood to explain to her Pops why they broke the bed.

Stretching her limbs, she let out a content sigh and ran her hands up his shoulders to his neck, delighting in covering his scent with her own. It really should have been a crime to smell as good as he did, let alone look so hot.

“We should get up. How do you feel about pancakes?”

  
  


Sheriff Stilinski was breaking down his theory of the Master of Kanima while Derek and Stiles ate their pancakes. He had narrowed it down to a few people, but wasn’t sure of the entire connection between the victims. Alessia half listened since her phone notification alert kept going off, she excused herself from the table.

Stepping outside, she scrolled through the texts and felt the air in her lungs seize up.

**Jackson: Aley, they’re on the move.  
Jackson: The Sierra Pack managed to hold the recruiter in a mine shaft lined with Hecatolite and Mountain Ash**  
**Jackson: I’ve tried to warn them what happens if Kali gets out, but they’re confident she won’t.  
Jackson: They don’t have it in them to put her down**

_Fuck, fuck, fuck!_

She hit dial on the contact and listened to it ring twice before a familiar voice answered the call.

_“Aley, thank God you called.”_

“Please don’t tell me they think they can talk down one of the crazier Alphas. Has Kali made any contact with the Alpha Pack since she’s been there?”

_“From what I can get out of the Sierra Pack Alpha, no. They lured her to the abandoned mines for a meeting place. The Betas aren’t above shooting her, but the Alpha wants to make sure she stays down. She asked me to contact you and see if you could come up and do it.”_

“Jackson...I just got settled here in Beacon Hills. I’m still working on strengthening the Hale Pack--”

_“I know. I’m so sorry to have to ask you, but the Redding Pack told them that if anyone could make sure that an Alpha from the Alpha Pack stays dead, it would be you.”_

“Fuck. Okay, okay. How long until the Sierra Pack plans to move out? The Alpha Pack will come around sniffing for their missing Alpha if we wait too long and they have to relocate if that happens.”

_“I’ll have to call you back about the contingency plans, but it looks like the Plumas Pack is willing to shelter them.”_

“Okay.”

She disconnected the call, pocketed her phone and wrapped her arms tightly around herself. It was roughly a five hour drive from Beacon Hills to Sierra Nevada, but she had only just gotten the Hale Pack bonds to form. She couldn’t just leave them, but still…

One less Alpha meant one less threat when the Alpha Pack chose to move down their way. She and the Redding Pack had taken down Ennis with an abandoned power station and a lot of silver bullets; it had taken her months to recover from that ordeal and there’s no way Pops would let her go alone again.

She bit her lip and took out her phone again. Going through her contacts list, she found who she was looking for and hit dial.

_“Kara Argent speaking, what can I do ya for?”_

Alessia winced since she knew this particular Argent only used that phrase when she was doing one thing.

“If you’re in the middle of a hunt, I can call you back later.”

_“Nah, ya good. We’re just wrapping up a wayward wendigo. Whatcha need?”_

“A wendigo? This far west? Really?!”

_“Some campers got lost and then more kept goin’ missin’. It is what it is, girlie.”_

“Are you on good terms with Chris Argent?”

_“You want me to bring in that straight edge for a hunt? What we lookin’ at that requires that jackass for help?”_

“Remember Ennis? It’s Kali this time,” Alessia sighed and explained the situation up in Sierra Nevada. 

Kara Argent had married into the Argent family and picked up hunting like a duck to water. She was a distant cousin to Davina and held similar beliefs about letting Supernaturals that weren’t hurting anyone go free. It was her people that told Alessia about electrical currents suppressing a werewolf’s ability to shift which was the key to bringing down Ennis.

_“Girlie, ya know I’m just up north of Sierra. I can come down and take care of the problem nice and easy. Why you wanna involve Chris?”_

“Pops was really unhappy with the way I disappeared last time and reappeared looking like I lost a fight with a woodchipper. And we filled Chris in on what happened with Davina, but he can’t directly help us since Gerard is in the area.”

Kara snorted before letting out an exasperated sigh.

_“I gotcha. Gerard won’t come out this way since he’s occupied playing School Principal. Tell Chris I’ll provide him a cover once you provide him with the details. Remember to pack a lot of silver. I’ll get my Hunters started on creating checkpoints for the Sierra Pack once they start traveling.”_

“Thanks, Kara!”

_“Yeah, yeah. If that bastard calls me Munchkin again, I’m shootin’ him.”_

Alessia rubbed her face with her hands and bit back the urge to scream. Of all the times for something like this to pop up, it had to be right when things started going well. With a heavy sigh, she headed back into the house to hear the guys arguing about football.

“Everything alright?” Noah asked his daughter when she slumped down into her seat and dropped her head on the kitchen table.

“Remember that thing I had to take care of last year?”

The Sheriff went stock still and his concerned gaze turned steely with tension. 

“No. You’re not going alone this time!”

She picked her head up to half-heartedly glare at him. 

“Why the hell do you think I’m telling you instead of disappearing for two weeks?” She all but growled. “I need a meeting with Chris Argent.”

She reached for Derek’s hand, twining her fingers with his since he was growling at just the name.

“What happened last year?” Derek snarled and pulled Alessia from her seat and onto his lap. He stared down the Sheriff who looked like he was about to protest his action until Alessia patted his arm.

“The idiot in your lap,” Noah ignored the glare in his direction, “left in the middle of the night in Stiles' jeep to kill one of the Alphas from the Alpha Pack. She came back two weeks later with a broken leg, no eyebrows and my spare kevlar vest looking like it got fed into an industrial shredder!” 

“I did buy you a new one after my leg healed, but again, _at least I’m telling you this time._ It would be stupid of me to disappear when the Pack bonds right now are still so new. The pups would lose their shit with worry if I kept them in the dark. Not to mention I’m pretty sure Derek wouldn’t talk to me ever again.”

“Derek is still wondering why the hell you and Chris Argent have to be involved.” 

“Stiles would like to know when we evolved to speaking in third person.”

“Shut up, nerd!” Alessia snapped and left Derek’s lap when her phone started to ring again. “I have to take this and you have to at least _try_ to accept that some Hunters are actually good people.” 

_“Hey, real quick, but can ketamine kill a werewolf?”_

“Jackson, what the _fuck?_ No, but you might as well dose her up with a tranq loaded with mistletoe! Hold on, I need to step outside.” She gave the men in the kitchen a stern look and headed for the backyard.

Noah Stilinski crossed his arms and stared at Derek.

“I need to know what my daughter’s intentions are with you.”

“W-What?” Derek sputtered, completely caught off guard by the statement.

“Whoa, Dad, is this a reverse shovel talk?” Stiles’ eyes were wide with shock.

“Stiles, go check on your sister!” Noah barked and Stiles was out of the kitchen in a heartbeat. “Look Derek, I think you’re a decent kid trying to do his best by his Pack, but this development with Aley…”

“Sir,” Derek cleared his throat, “I don’t think there’s been a single moment with Aley where I didn’t have a choice. She’s been nothing but honest with me from the beginning. I’m not sure what we are, but...sir? Sheriff?”

Noah threw his head back and laughed until there were tears in his eyes. _Oh, you poor bastard!_ He guffawed during Derek’s explanation and all but fell out of his chair with mirth. He’d seen enough mated Alpha pairs to last him a lifetime, so he knew that Derek had no idea what the signs were like. His son had told him how Aley had handled the incident with Scott and Allison, and how both Alphas stepped up to provide the Pack with the comfort they needed to remain stable. 

He waved a hand to stop Derek from getting up to help from where he weakly clung to his chair. “It’s fine. I’m fine. Just...promise to remember I’ll be around to talk if something in your relationship doesn’t make sense, alright?”

“...sure.”

  
  


_Derek is going to be so confused from now on,_ Stiles thought to himself with a chuckle. He watched his sister pace back and forth in their backyard, hands gesturing wildly before she let out an ear-shattering roar of frustration. 

“WHY IS EVERYONE SO FUCKING STUPID?!”

“Need an ear, sis?” Stiles walked over to her, hands in his pockets and stood at a safe distance from her. Alessia’s hands were curled with claws, her mouth full of fangs, and eyes a furious red. Oh, she was good and pissed off. He was not brave enough to get any closer when his Alpha looked like that.

“They got the ketamine from their Emissary who’d been dealing it to the humans. They have just enough Mountain Ash to keep the Alpha imprisoned, but some stupid fucking bleeding heart broke the barrier to give the drugged bitch food. They should just let her starve out of principle!”

He nodded and made a hum of agreement. No one in the Alpha Pack was innocent of the crimes against the other Packs they attacked. That knowledge was what kept the Redding Pack alive when they dealt with Ennis.

“I need to take the train to Trinity,” she said with mournful whine. “The Sierra Pack doesn’t have any silver bullets and I’m not about to have the local Argent here bring more than what’s necessary for a single Hunter.”

“You’re going to the Creek Vault,” he stated and felt his heart clench from his last memory there. The Creek Vault had a weapons cache from Davina’s time as an Argent Hunter before she formed the Protectors. 

“Yeah, it looks like I am.” Alessia sighed and shifted back until she was passable for a human again. “Look, Pops’ shift starts soon and I need you to round up the pups and explain the situation to them.” She gave him a brief summary of how long she’d have to be gone and what resources their Pack would have available to them. “Get in touch with the Hale Pack Emissary; I know he’s still in town. Ask Derek since he probably hasn’t forgotten him and has most likely been in touch with him. He’s Marin’s brother, so if Derek doesn’t know, then ask her. She owes us.”

“Try not to tear up the house when you deal with Derek,” Stiles pleaded. “And please don’t defile my bed.”

With Stiles and her Pops out of the house, Alessia stared up at an enraged and wolfed out Derek. She had expected this reaction and did her best to remain calm. Did she want to take a train out to her old Pack Vault and then drive several hours out to put a silver bullet through the brain of one of the Alpha Pack? Rhetorical question, but the thought kept her anchored while the Alpha in front of her pinned her to the kitchen table, his shoulders heaving with his fury.

“Why does it have to be _you?_ Why not just ask those Hunters you’re so buddy-buddy with to take care of it?!” He roared, uncaring of her flinch of pain from the volume of his voice.

“Because I was requested and I rather kill one more of them than try to kill them all when they move down to Beacon Hills. I already lost one Pack, Derek, I’m not willing to lose another one if I can prevent it.” She told him sadly, her eyes steely with her resolve.

“And if I don’t let you?”

“Oh, Der, you really don’t want to go there with me. It’ll hurt you more if you tried to stop me because that means actually putting more than bruises on me.” She said. She lifted his hands, mindful of the claws twitching to rip her apart for her decision and pressed her face against his palms. The claws just barely scratched against the skin by her eyes before he gasped and shifted back to human so quickly that she would have missed it if she blinked.

“No!” Derek yelled in panic and pulled her up and into his arms. He knew he was hot-headed, but he would never lose it like that to put more marks on her because of his temper. He pressed his lips to her pulse point, hands wrapped around the skin of her waist from beneath her shirt. He _needed_ the skin-on-skin contact because his body knew she was his even if his brain didn’t understand it.

“Hey. This is the last thing either of us would want me to do. As much as I would love to take you with me, you’re the head Alpha and our Pack needs you more than they need me. I’ll be gone for a week at most and I’ll call every day to check in. This isn’t like last time where I went off half-cocked and came back broken.” She spoke softly, brushing her palms against the stubble of his jawline and pressed closer as his hands pushed up passed her ribs, thumbs brushing against the edges of her bra.

“We can’t lose you, Aley. I can’t--” He shook his head, peppering the skin of her neck with kisses down to her clavicle. He pulled her tank top down far enough so that it caught at the bottom of her bra and his lips settled on the patch of skin over her heart. “You’re mine, Aley.”

Alessia shivered. She had a strong feeling that she knew what he was asking. Had their bond between each other grown that much to push a Claiming bite? Or was her decision to leave the catalyst for Derek to follow his wolf instincts to forge a more permanent link between them? Her thoughts flew in all directions and it was the languid lapping of his tongue on her skin that brought her back to this moment.

“It’s always been your choice, Derek.”

He shuddered with a moan, his face shifting until he opened his jaws wide. His fangs glistened for a moment in the light of the kitchen before he bit down and her pain receptors went wild. She heard herself scream before it tapered off into pleasurable whimpers; her top and bra were shredded and he lovingly nuzzled her breasts, fingers digging into the soft flesh.

“Der--we can’t... _oh my God_.” He stepped back and stripped off his shirt before taking her hands in his to press against his pecs down to those abs that she may or may not have fantasized over. He curled her fingers around the button to the fly of his jeans and all reasonable thought processes in her brain turned to white noise.

A part of her delighted in the grunt that came out of him when her nails became claws that ripped the jeans off of him. She giggled when they both saw the light claw marks that ran from his hips to his thighs, his underwear falling off of him in tatters. She licked her lips at the sight of him half hard for her and dropped to her knees. Pressing open mouth kisses from base to tip, she didn’t give him any warning when she swallowed him down. Moaning at the taste of him, she couldn’t even hear his groan or feel his fingers sink into her hair. She hallowed her cheeks, tongue curling over and around him, chasing the taste of him, delighting in the fact that he grew to full hardness in her mouth, almost choking her.

She loved every moment of worshipping his dick. She moved her head forward until her lips sealed over the base, taking quick breaths until his tip pushed past her uvula and hummed around him. He grunted and fell back against the table, claws digging into the wood and breath hissing between clenched teeth. She moved her head back, tonguing the slide of his dick before surging forward once more, all lips, tongue and suction.

Derek was in a haze of pleasure. Every swirl of her tongue and press of her lips had shivers crawling up from his balls to the tips of his hair. When she swallowed him all the way down, his vision went spotty and he felt around behind him for the table and braced himself when she hummed, the vibrations sending his senses haywire. He glanced down at her and had to fight the urge to come because her eyes were Alpha red and staring up at him with a mischievous gleam. He panted, struggling to pull enough air into his lungs to breathe until she completely pulled away from him looking like the cat that ate the canary.

He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her up into a sizzling kiss; he didn’t care if he tasted himself on her. Tasting them together just made him harder and he shredded her shorts and panties from her tantalizing flesh. He reached down to tease her and she slapped his hand away.

“Trust me, I’m ready for you.” Her voice was raspy and dripping with desire. She climbed up his body, her thighs gripping his hips, knees balanced on the table behind him. She sank down on his slick erection with a pleased growl and his vision went white. 

Sweet Jesus, but she was so tight and wet for him. This had to be hurting her, but the sounds she was making and the fact that she was wet just from going down on him had him snarling with satisfaction. He let her set the pace, moving her hips languidly while she adjusted to his length and girth inside of her that had her tossing her head back with a moan. He thrust his hips upwards when hers moved down and he smirked when she shuddered, her hips bouncing to get him deeper inside on his every thrust.

“This--is--a--great--table,” Derek grunted out between thrusts startling a laugh out of Alessia, which caused her to tighten up on him and they both moaned from the sensation. 

“The walls-- _ohmigod right there--_ are pretty sturdy too,” she said and whined when he stopped moving. “Derek, don’t you dare stop!”

She yelped when he grabbed her ass and immediately had her pinned against the nearest wall, her arms and legs wrapping around him with a bone crushing intensity. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head when he began to move in long, slow thrusts that pushed deep.

“God, you’re beautiful.” 

And she was.

Seeing Alessia lost in pleasure was probably the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life and knowing that he was the one making her look like that made him want to howl loud enough for the whole world to hear.

Oh, this kind of slow was torturous for Alessia and unfortunately, they didn’t have all day to be going at this pace--even though it felt amazing and she’d love an all day marathon. She pressed her forehead against his, their noses touching in an eskimo kiss when she said the magic words.

“Is that all you got, Alpha?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a reason I don't normally write a lot of smut because I literally have to be in the mood to write it lol  
> Also the next chapter is going to be a bit heavy on the violence


End file.
